President Donald Trump is considering extending Chevron’s sanction waiver for Venezuela, which he earlier this year refused to do, letting the waiver lapse, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with developments.
Per the report, the possibility of extending the waiver arose during Trump’s meeting with oil and gas executives in the White House on Wednesday. The president and his team are currently discussing the possibility of imposing tariffs on countries that buy Venezuelan oil, the Wall Street Journal wrote, as a means of making it more difficult for China to boost its own presence in the oil industry of the South American country.
Chevron has raised the possibility that China might take its place if it leaves Venezuela, the report also said, appealing to the president’s suspicions of China and its expansion plans.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the end of February when Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela expired.
Chevron has been exporting some 240,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude to the United States daily thanks to the waiver. The amount constitutes a quarter of the country’s total oil production and generates substantial revenues that stay in the Venezuelan economy, Bloomberg reported earlier this week, arguing Chevron’s presence was critical for that economy. These revenues are running at some $6 billion.
Chevron also had big plans for its Venezuelan operations, aiming to boost exports from just one of them, Petropiar, by as much as 50% this year, to a total of 143,000 barrels daily. Now, these plans have a chance of materializing if Trump approves the idea of swapping more sanctions for tariffs and an extension of the supermajor’s license.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
