Repsol receives US license to operate in Venezuela, according to PDVSA

The Spanish oil company Repsol received an individual license USA to operate in the sanctioned Venezuelareported this Friday the president of the state PDVSA, Pedro Tellechea.

Both companies signed an agreement to increase joint production of crude oil and gas on April 17, the same day that Washington announced the end of a relaxation of its oil embargo on Venezuela due to questions about the election on July 28.

This measure now forces companies that want to operate in the country to request individual licenses.

Tellechea, also Minister of Petroleum, was optimistic that Venezuelan oil production will reach one million barrels this year, driven by the operation with Repsol. Currently, according to the person in charge, it reaches 924,000 barrels per day (bd).

““We are going to start to see what the colleagues at Repsol (produce), who we celebrate, who have just given the license,” Tellechea said during an industrial forum. “We celebrate that Repsol continues working in Venezuela. Licensed or unlicensed, we continue to work with them”.

“Chevron has its license and there are a number of companies that are receiving their license,” he added.

Venezuela’s supply has been growing. According to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the South American country’s production stands at about 800,000 bd after averaging around 750,000 in 2023 and 680,000 in 2022.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), dependent on the US Department of the Treasury, approved operations for the French Maurel & Prom (M&P) on May 6 and four days later for service providers such as Halliburton, Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes Holdings LLC and Weatherford International.

Last October, the United States had partially lifted sanctions for six months that it had imposed on Venezuelan oil and gas in 2019.

But he announced the end of that license in April, gave a deadline to “settlement of transactions” pending until May 31, and included a section that allows companies that wish to work with Venezuela to request specific licenses.

Repsol has a stake of 40% in the joint venture Petroquiriquire, in which PDVSA has the 60% remaining, according to data from the Spanish group, which estimates the liabilities of the venture at about US$340 million. This company operates in several areas of the west and east of the country.

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