U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he wanted to revoke the license, accusing President Nicolas Maduro of failing to make progress on electoral reforms and migrant repatriations.
At the same time, this authorization has become the "tool" of about a quarter of Venezuela's oil production. The cancellation of Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela could lead to the negotiation of a new agreement between the U.S. producer and the state company PDVSA and therefore new routes to export crude to destinations other than the United States.
"We are aware of today's announcement and are assessing its implications", Chevron spokesman Bill Turenne said in a statement. "Chevron operates in Venezuela in compliance with all laws and regulations, including the sanctions framework provided by the U.S. government".
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and once fueled Latin America's strongest economy. However, corruption, mismanagement and subsequent US economic sanctions have caused oil production to steadily decline..
More than 7,7 million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2013, when the country’s oil-dependent economy collapsed and Maduro became president. Most settled in Latin America and the Caribbean, but since the pandemic, they have increasingly turned to the United States.
Wednesday’s announcement, which Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez called “damaging and inexplicable,” quickly ended Maduro’s government’s hopes for improved relations with the White House after a Trump envoy visited Caracas, the capital, on Feb. 1. Shortly after that visit, the Venezuelan government began taking back migrants deported by the United States.
Rodriguez, in a statement, warned that decisions similar to the last one "caused the migration from 2017 to 2021, with the well-known consequences".
Chevron, which invested in Venezuela in the 20s, operates in the country through j with the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). In 2019, these j produced about 200.000 barrels of oil a day, but the following year U.S. sanctions imposed during Trump's first term to overthrow Maduro forced Chevron to cut production. When the company won approval to export oil to the United States in November 2022, the j quickly reached 80.000 barrels per day, surpassing 2024 levels in 2019.
The terms of the permit prohibit Chevron from paying taxes or royalties directly to the Venezuelan government. However, the company sends funds to the joint ventures, which are majority-owned by PDVSA.
It is unclear how the Maduro government has used those funds, since it has stopped publishing financial data almost entirely for years. On Wednesday, opposition leader María Corina Machado, in a podcast interview with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., accused Maduro of using them "for repression, persecution and corruption".
"This is a huge step and sends a clear, firm message: Maduro is in deep trouble.", he has declared.
Photo: The White House
