US renews Chevron’s license in Venezuela

MIAMI — The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation.

The license issued Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department allows California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform only basic upkeep of wells it operates jointly with state-run oil giant PDVSA, dashing the hopes of those who wanted to see a resumption of exports to ease pricing pressure at American pumps.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing international sanctions targeting Russia’s oil industry have led the Biden administration to reconsider longstanding policies isolating oil powers Venezuela and Iran.

In March, three senior Biden officials traveled to Caracas to meet with President Nicolas Maduro to try to lure him back to negotiations with the U.s.-backed opposition and release several Americans imprisoned for years. Their carrot was the possible lifting of crippling oil sanctions imposed in 2019 after Maduro breezed into a second term following elections considered undemocratic by the U.S. and dozens of allies.

While Maduro has welcomed the surprise outreach, joking that he wanted to soon travel to New York to attend a salsa festival, there’s been little progress since.

Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves but due to mismanagement, and more recently U.S. sanctions, production has been declining steadily from the 3.5 million barrels per day when Hugo Chavez took power in 1999. In April, output stood at barely 700,000 barrels per day — the lowest level in decades.