Page 9 - NorthAmOil Week 22 2021

NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil

US grants Chevron, three service companies

another waiver from Venezuelan sanctions

US-VENEZUELA THE US Treasury Department has given Chev- The issuance of the new waivers serves to
ron and three oilfield service providers (OSPs) extend the firms’ permission to maintain a min-
permission to continue maintaining a limited imal presence in Venezuela until December 1.
presence in Venezuela, despite the continua- The previous waivers, which were granted last
tion of sanctions on that country’s hydrocarbon year, had been due to expire on June 3.
sector. Chevron responded positively to OFAC’s
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets announcement. Ray Fohr, a spokesman for
Control (OFAC) announced this move on June the company, told Reuters that the company The previous
1, saying that it had issued six-month waivers intended “to comply with applicable laws and
from the trade restrictions to Chevron, Baker regulations” governing its activities in Vene- US presidential
Hughes, Halliburton and Schlumberger. These zuela. He also commented that Chevron had
documents authorise the four companies to con- been “a constructive presence in the country, administration,
duct essential business operations in Venezuela. supporting social investment and humanitarian
According to a statement from OFAC, essen- programmes.” led by Donald
tial operations include “transactions and activi- The previous US presidential administration, Trump,
ties necessary to ensure the safety of personnel, led by Donald Trump, imposed severe restric-
or the integrity of operations and assets in Vene- tions on Venezuela and its national oil company imposed severe
zuela; participation in shareholder and board of (NOC) PdVSA in early 2019. It did so after a con-
directors meetings; [and] making payments on troversial election marked by widespread reports restrictions on
third-party invoices for transactions.” They also that President Nicolas Maduro had resorted to
include “payment of local taxes and purchase fraud to secure another term in office. Venezuela and
of utility services in Venezuela and payment of The sanctions regime was designed to put its national oil
salaries for employees and contractors in Vene- pressure on Maduro to step down and cede
zuela,” the statement said. power to opposition leader Juan Guaido. Thus company.
It further noted that neither Chevron nor the far, it has not yielded the desired results. Never-
OSPs would be permitted to engage in explo- theless, the current US presidential administra-
ration and production activities in Venezuela. tion, led by Joe Biden, has kept the sanctions in
Similarly, it said, the companies will not be able place, while signalling that it may be willing to
to produce, process, transport, sell or trade Ven- lift certain barriers to fuel delivery for the pur-
ezuelan petroleum products. pose of humanitarian relief.™

Week 22 03•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9