The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published the revisions Wednesday, which replace general licenses issued between February and March, according to Venezuelan news outlet El Nacional. The changes do not lift U.S. sanctions or normalize economic relations but establish updated mechanisms for specific activities, set participation criteria, and define legal and financial conditions under which operations may proceed, reported Efecto Cocuyo.
Previously, international companies signing agreements with the Venezuelan government or state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, were required to submit all disputes exclusively to U.S. laws and courts. Under the revised framework, contracts may be governed and litigated under the legal systems of the United States, France, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
In the oil and petrochemical sectors, the revised licenses authorize crude oil production, refining and exports to the United States, as well as imports of diluents needed for processing Venezuela’s extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt. In mining, the changes create a regulated framework for exploration, extraction and commercialization of strategic minerals including gold, under compliance standards intended to curb illegal mining.
The revisions complement recent agreements aimed at increasing Venezuela’s energy production capacity, including a technology memorandum signed Wednesday between Rodríguez and SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger. Rodríguez said during the signing ceremony that the new technologies would “have a major impact on exploration and production” and “undoubtedly contribute to improving PDVSA’s productivity,” according to Caraota Digital.
Despite the expanded contractual flexibility, the Treasury Department maintains strict restrictions. Transactions involving entities from Russia, Iran, Cuba or North Korea, as well as companies controlled by the Chinese government, remain prohibited. The updated licenses also ban the use of cryptocurrencies, opaque debt-swap arrangements and payments made in physical gold outside authorized banking channels.
The revisions are expected to facilitate operations for major international companies that have been expanding their presence in Venezuela after the January capture of Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. military operation, according to Venezuelan news reports. Among the companies positioned to benefit are U.S.-based Chevron, Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, France’s Maurel & Prom and Britain’s BP.
The move reflects Washington’s effort to balance energy market considerations with continued political pressure on Venezuela’s government, allowing regulated energy flows to Western markets while preserving key sanctions mechanisms.