(Reuters) – About a half dozen foreign partners of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA are awaiting authorizations from the U.S. Treasury and State departments, following talks last week about fresh licenses to allow them to operate in the sanctioned South American country, according to six company sources. The companies’ licenses, including a key one for U.S. oil major Chevron, were revoked by President Donald Trump’s administration in March over the Venezuelan government’s response to migration issues and what Trump said was its lack of progress toward restoring democracy. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said last week that Chevron had informed his government about a fresh authorization to come, and PDVSA began preparations to allocate oil cargoes to its joint-venture partners in coming months, once authorized.
But companies including Chevron, Italy’s Eni, Spain’s Repsol, France’s Maurel & Prom and India’s Reliance Industries are still waiting for the licenses, the sources said. Most of the companies are minority stakeholders in key oil and gas projects with PDVSA, while others including Reliance are among Venezuela’s largest buyers of oil. In the first quarter this year, before their licenses were canceled, they were responsible for about 40% of the country’s total 881,000 barrels per day of exports.
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Some firms have informed staff and contractors in Venezuela about permits to come, without elaborating on dates or terms, according to two of the sources.
Chevron declined to comment specifically on the licenses. The company said it conducts its business globally in compliance with laws and regulations, as well as the U.S. sanctions framework.
A spokesperson for Maurel & Prom told Reuters in an email on Tuesday that the firm has not received any license yet. Eni, Repsol, Reliance and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday the U.S. remained firm in its “unwavering support to Venezuela’s restoration of democratic order and justice.” Rubio had in May blocked a move by U.S. special envoy Richard Grenell to extend the period in which the previous authorizations for oil operations were allowed to wind down. He did not refer to the oil authorizations in Sunday’s release.
The Treasury Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the licenses. A State Department spokesperson said they would not comment about any specific licenses, but the U.S. government would not allow Maduro’s administration to profit from the sale of oil.
Chevron has not yet instructed tankers’ owners or captains to go to Venezuelan waters for an eventual resumption of oil cargoes, while PDVSA’s loading schedules do not show any supplies to its joint-venture partners for July, according to shipping documents and sources.
Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams
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