en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Department of the Treasury released a new sanctions framework on June 10, aimed at reopening specific areas of Venezuela's energy and mining sectors to U.S. and allied companies, and explicitly authorizing shipping, insurance, and logistics activities necessary to support related exports.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated seven Venezuela-related general licenses, covering oil exports, U.S. diluent sales, energy services, mining activities, transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), and operations of major international energy companies. These new licenses replace older versions issued in early 2026, establishing a relatively comprehensive legal framework for regulating commercial dealings with Venezuela's oil, natural gas, petrochemical, electricity, and mining sectors.
One of the most notable provisions in the new framework is the explicit authorization of maritime services supporting trade with Venezuela. Multiple licenses approve shipping and logistics activities, including vessel chartering, marine insurance, protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance, and port and terminal services involving entities controlled by the Venezuelan government.
The scope of authorization extends beyond crude oil exports. The updated licenses also cover petroleum and petrochemical products originating in Venezuela, U.S.-origin diluents for blending heavy crude oil, oil and gas field services, electrical infrastructure, and minerals originating in Venezuela, including gold.
The framework also expands the list of major international energy companies authorized to conduct specific operations in Venezuela. General License 50B covers companies including BP, Chevron, Eni, Maurel & Prom, Repsol, and Shell, along with their subsidiaries.
At the same time, these licenses include a series of restrictions to prevent participation by geopolitical competitors. Multiple licenses prohibit transactions involving entities linked to Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, or China, and some authorizations explicitly exclude Venezuelan or U.S. entities and joint ventures owned or controlled by Chinese parties.
The Treasury also introduced new contractual requirements designed to provide legal protections for participating companies. Contracts with the Venezuelan government, PDVSA, or state-owned mining entities must be governed by U.S. law, with dispute resolution procedures conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, or Singapore. OFAC clarified in new guidance accompanying the licenses that this requirement does not prohibit contracts from recognizing applicable Venezuelan law on matters such as licensing, labor regulations, environmental compliance, health and safety, and other sovereign regulatory functions.
The licenses also establish detailed reporting requirements. Companies engaged in authorized transactions must periodically submit reports to U.S. government agencies, detailing counterparties, cargo quantities, transaction values, destinations, and payments made to the Venezuelan government.
The updated measures also expand the scope of authorized petrochemical product trade. The Treasury's definition of petrochemical products now includes various fertilizer products and feedstocks, such as urea, ammonia, ammonium nitrate, phosphates, potash products, sulfur, and sulfuric acid.
These policy changes come amid the Trump administration's ongoing adjustments to U.S. sanctions strategy toward Venezuela, aiming to expand Western companies' participation in Venezuela's energy sector while reducing competitors' influence in Latin America's largest oil-producing country. All seven updated licenses took effect on June 10.
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