The government of President Nicolás Maduro yesterday signed a series of agreements with the US oil company Chevron for the continuation and expansion of joint operations in the South American country,
Chevron, the last major US oil company to do business in Venezuela, slashed its operations in recent years on orders from the administration of now-former President Donald Trump as part of sanctions imposed on the Venezuelan government.
Instead of drilling and exporting crude, after that decision he dedicated himself to carrying out essential maintenance in the oil fields and the machinery in which he made investments in the last century with an estimated value of 2.6 billion dollars.
In April of next year Chevron celebrates 100 years in Venezuela.
The Chevron company is part of “a strategic partnership” of four mixed companies Petro Boscán and Petro Independente in the Lake Maracaibo basin in the extreme west of Venezuela, and Petropiar and Petro Independencia, located heavily in the so-called “Oil Belt” of the Orinoco River, where large deposits of extra-heavy crude are located and which surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the largest proven reserves in the world, according to OPEC statistics.
“These contracts are intended to continue with the productive and development activities in this energy sector,” in accordance with the terms established in the constitution and other Venezuelan laws, highlighted without giving details, the Venezuelan oil minister Tareck El Aissami after the signing of the contracts He was accompanied by the president of Chevron in Venezuela, Javier La Rosa.
The signing of agreements came six days after the US Treasury Department announced its decision to extend the license of Chevron’s operations in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have drastically reduced revenues from the production and sale of oil and gas to the coffers of the Maduro government.
The relief of sanctions, beyond oil activity, sought to encourage the resumption of negotiations between the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition sector – led by Juan Guaidó and backed by Washington – which resumed on November 26 in Mexico the dialogues suspended since October of last year.
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The decision by the administration of Democrat Joe Biden was the latest move by Washington to ease some of the economic sanctions that weigh on the Venezuelan government and several senior officials, including Maduro himself.
The license extension, however, contemplates that the profits from the sale of crude oil would be used to pay the debt it maintains with the US oil company, instead of providing profits to the Venezuelan state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).