A view of the PDVSA headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo: Federico Parra/AFP.
US oil company ConocoPhillips, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is supposedly in talks with the government of Venezuela to sell Venezuelan oil in the United States, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
“ConocoPhillips, which left Venezuela after its assets were nationalized in 2007, is now open to a deal to sell the country’s oil in the US,” the report stated, citing “people familiar with the discussions between the company and Venezuelan representatives.”
Breaking: ConocoPhillips is in talks with Venezuela to sell the country’s oil in the U.S. after Caracas seized its assets in 2007, people familiar with the matter say https://t.co/f3L4tpjhmp
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 12, 2023
An agreement would allow ConocoPhillips to load, transport and sell Venezuelan oil in the US on behalf of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which “would help the US to satisfy its energy needs,” according to the article.
Since 2022, the US has been suffering a record increase in inflation, unprecedented in 40 years, the principal source of which is the rise in fuel prices in the global market due to the sanctions on Russian oil and gas imposed by the European Union and the US itself.
According to the sources quoted by the WSJ, ConocoPhillips estimates that an agreement with PDVSA would help to end the economic and commercial isolation of Venezuela, caused by the illegal US blockade against the Venezuelan oil industry since 2016.
If the negotiations are concluded, Venezuelan crude oil would return to the US market. Venezuelan oil had the biggest market share in the US until the imposition of the unilateral coercive measures by the White House to force a violent regime change in Venezuela.
Chevron allowed to restart oil production activities in Venezuela
The return of US oil companies to Venezuela began in early December last year when PDVSA and Chevron signed contracts to restart joint oil production, after the US government issued an extended license allowing Chevron Corp. to import oil or oil products from its joint ventures in Venezuela.
CITGO, Valero, and PBF Refineries Vie for Venezuelan Crude Oil from Chevron
The US license came after the signing of the Second Partial Agreement for the Protection of the Venezuelan People between the government of Venezuela and the extreme right opposition at the end of November 2022, within the context of the negotiations in Mexico City.
The license, granted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, allows Chevron to restart its activities in Venezuela.
OFAC issued “authorization for certain transactions related to Chevron Corporation’s joint ventures in Venezuela” for “all transactions normally incidental and necessary to the operation and management by Chevron Corporation or its subsidiaries (“Chevron”) or Chevron’s joint ventures in Venezuela (collectively, the “Chevron JVs”) involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) or any entity in which PDVSA owns, directly or indirectly, an interest of 50% or more” that were “prohibited by Executive Order (EO) 13850” and its subsequent amendments by EO 13857 or 13884, which are part of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US against Venezuela.
OFAC’s License 41 allows the “production and extraction of petroleum or petroleum products produced by Chevron JVs, and any related maintenance, repair or service of Chevron JVs.”
It also allows the “sale, export or import into the United States of petroleum or petroleum products produced by the Chevron JVs, provided that the petroleum and petroleum products produced by the Chevron JVs are first sold to Chevron” and the “purchase and import into Venezuela of goods or supplies related to the activities” of Chevron’s oil business “including diluents, condensate, oil or natural gas products.”
This action by Washington makes clear the subordination of the most violent sector of the Venezuelan opposition to the orders of the White House, as has been highlighted by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro since the beginning of the ongoing coup d’état that has caused Venezuela immense harm.
(Últimas Noticias) by Victor Castellanos
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
