The State Department declared in a media note that the Trump administration is “rapidly implementing President Trump’s vision to reopen and develop Venezuela’s oil industry for the shared benefit of the American and Venezuelan people.” The United States has already issued several licenses for oil and gas companies to invest in Venezuela, the statement explained.
Listing several developments on the subject, the State Department shared that on January 29, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela General License (GL) 46, which allows companies “incorporated in the United States to market Venezuelan oil to buyers around the world, and largely in the United States.” On February 3, the OFAC further allowed firms to sell U.S.-origin diluent to Venezuela. The product is critical for the oil industry.
On February 10, the OFAC allowed companies to provide “goods, equipment, and services for the Venezuelan oil and gas industry,” the State Department explained, which allows firms to upgrade Venezuela’s infrastructure.
The latest move, dated February 13, allowed some companies to expand their presence in Venezuela, offering greater purchase power for oil and gas projects.
“These general licenses invite American and other aligned companies to play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery and responsible investment,” the Department added. “Additional authorizations may also be issued as necessary in furtherance of President Trump’s vision.”
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declaring that the United States is “much further along on this project than we thought we would be, given the complexities of it going into it.”
“I mean, look, at the end of the day we are dealing with people over there that have spent most of their lives living in a gangster paradise, so it’s not going to be like from one day to the next we’re going to have this thing turn around overnight. But I think we’re making good and decent progress,” he explained.
