WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. on Friday
extended a license allowing certain transactions with Venezuelan
state oil company PDVSA so American energy service companies can
maintain assets after Washington last month re-imposed wide
sanctions on the OPEC member.
The companies, however, remain prohibited from drilling,
lifting, processing, purchasing, transporting or shipping any
Venezuela-origin oil.
The license is being extended through Nov. 15 and covers oil
services Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes
, and Weatherford International PLC, a notice on
the U.S. Treasury Department’s website showed.
The Biden administration last month re-imposed sanctions on
Venezuela’s oil sector in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s
failure to meet his election commitments. The sanctions were
first imposed in 2019 during the administration of former
President Donald Trump.
Also last month, Treasury had given all companies doing
business with Venezuela, including oil purchases, until the end
of May to wind down pending transactions.
Venezuela’s oil exports fell 38% in the month of April after
the re-imposition of sanctions approached.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Timothy Gardner and Ismail
Shakil; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Marguerita Choy)
Read More: US allows oil service firms to maintain assets in Venezuela through mid-Nov