The Biden administration Saturday announced it would allow Chevron to produce and export Venezuelan oil after the country agreed to restart talks with opposition groups.
A senior Biden administration official insisted the move was not aimed at addressing oil market pressures.
“This action is not being taken in response to energy prices, this is a limited license,” the official said. “As we have said in the past, this is about the regime taking the steps needed to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”
The official said much of the crude that would be produced and exported under the license would probably have reached the market anyway via the black market.
The license would still bar Venezuela’s PdVSA, the state-owned oil company, from receiving any profits from the oil sales in the joint venture with Chevron.
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