WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was reversing oil concessions given to OPEC-member Venezuela by his predecessor Joe Biden more than two years ago, accusing President Nicolas Maduro of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was “reversing the concessions” of the “oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022.”
That 2022 day was when the Biden administration gave Chevron a license to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the country’s crude oil to the United States.
It was the only license that the administration issued for Venezuela that day. Trump did not mention Chevron in the post.
The White House and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to queries about whether Trump was referring to Chevron’s license.
Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. does not need Venezuelan oil and left open the possibility of revoking Chevron’s operating license for the country.
Trump’s announcement follows his declaration in early February that Venezuela had agreed to receive all Venezuelan migrants in the United States illegally and provide for their transportation back.
That came a day after U.S. envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro in Caracas and brought six U.S. detainees back with him.
Trump during his first term pursued a “maximum pressure” sanctions policy against Maduro’s government, especially targeting the OPEC member’s vital energy sector.
After initially easing sanctions to encourage fair and democratic elections, Biden in April reinstated broad oil sanctions, saying Maduro failed to keep his electoral promises. But Biden had left the Chevron license intact, along with U.S. authorizations granted to several other foreign oil companies.
Trump said in the post that Maduro had not met “electoral conditions” and that he was not transporting Venezuelans back to the United States at a pace that had been agreed to.
Maduro and his government have always rejected sanctions by the United States and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.
Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the country’s resilience despite the measures, though they have historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on sanctions.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Matt Spetalnick and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Rosalba O’Brien)
Comments