Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 10 2022

COMMENTARY Y
LatAmOil COMMENTAR LatAmOil

(Image: PdVSA)
Russia-Ukraine conflict triggers a

change in US-Venezuela relations

Sanctions may be on the chopping block as Washington looks for ways to make more oil available

OBJECTIVELY speaking, not much time then under his successor Nicolas Maduro, who
has passed since Russia began its invasion of became president in 2013.
WHAT: Ukraine. Nevertheless, the invasion has already The US government began imposing eco-
A delegation of US triggered major shifts on the geopolitical scene. nomic sanctions on Venezuela more than 15
officials has reportedly One such shift may be playing out right now years ago. Initially, it did so because of concerns
visited Venezuela to dis- between the US and Venezuela. about the country’s involvement in drug traf-
cuss renewal of access to ficking and about certain government officials’
world oil markets. Background ties to leaders of terrorist groups such as Hez-
Washington and Caracas have been at odds for bollah. But in 2015, President Barack Obama
WHY: some time. expanded the scope of the sanctions regime,
Washington may be Economic relations between the two sides citing concerns about the Maduro administra-
willing to sacrifice have become steadily more strained since 1999, tion’s human rights violations and acts of polit-
sanctions policy for the
sake of increasing crude when Hugo Chávez, an outspoken critic of ical repression.
supplies. capitalism and free markets, became president These concerns intensified after Venezue-
of Venezuela. These pressures intensified after la’s presidential elections in December 2018.
WHAT NEXT: Caracas re-nationalised the oil industry in 2007, In response to reports that Maduro had used
Although political opposi- in a move that directly affected ExxonMobil and fraudulent means to ensure that he remained
tion to co-operation with other US-based companies. However, Chevron in office, US President Donald Trump began
Venezuela will persist, and other US firms maintained a presence there imposing additional sanctions that specifically
the tone of the conversa- and continued to co-operate with the national targeted the oil industry. Between early 2019 and
tion between the US and oil company (NOC) PdVSA, even as concerns late 2020, the Trump administration sought to
Venezuela has changed mounted in Washington and elsewhere about cut off every avenue that PdVSA had of access-
significantly. political repression, first under Chávez and ing world oil markets.

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