The President of the United States, Donald Trump, recently announced that he will revoke the export licenses for oil that his predecessor Joe Biden granted to Venezuela. These concessions benefited the oil company Chevron and will no longer be in effect as of March 1.
In partnership with Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), Chevron had reached a production of more than 200,000 barrels per day in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Congressional Research Service. However, the company has decided not to invest more capital due to the temporary nature of the permit and has focused on repairing oil wells and facilities in recent years.
Trump communicated his decision through a message on his social network Truth Social, where he criticized Nicolás Maduro's regime for various issues, including the deportation of criminals to the United States and the failure to meet electoral conditions within Venezuela. The president stated that the concessions granted by the Biden administration in 2022 would be reversed starting March 1, with no possibility of renewal.
Trump's determination means that Chevron, the only major U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, will end its activity in the South American country sooner than expected. The revocation of the licenses represents an economic setback for Venezuela, as Chevron's presence had contributed to the reactivation of the country's oil production. In February of this year, Venezuelan oil production surpassed one million barrels per day for the first time since 2019, according to OPEC.
Previously, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump himself had expressed criticisms of the license granted to Chevron, arguing that it financially benefited Maduro's government. The revocation of these concessions will have a significant impact on Venezuela's oil industry and on trade relations between the two countries.
