Trump Cancels Chevron Venezuela License.
President Donald Trump has canceled a sanction waiver for Chevron that has allowed the supermajor to return to the South American country and become instrumental for the increase of its oil production.
Trump cited the lack of electoral reform in Venezuela, along with insufficient action on migration.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Additionally, the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to. I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden “Concession Agreement” be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew,” the president also wrote.
Chevron has been exporting some 240,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude to the United States daily thanks to the waiver. The amount constitutes a quarter of the country’s total oil production and generates substantial revenues that stay in the Venezuelan economy, earlier this week, arguing Chevron’s presence was critical for that economy. These revenues are running at some $6 billion.
Chevron also had big plans for its Venezuelan operations, aiming to boost exports from just one of them, Petropiar, by as much as 50% this year, to a total of 143,000 barrels daily.
“The Trump administration realizes the ‘maximum pressure’ policy caused economic stress that led to migration into neighboring countries and didn’t result in political change,” one Atlantic Council analyst told the publication. “We’re in the early days of the Trump administration and we still need to see if Maduro is cooperative.”
Source: OILPRICE