The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued Venezuela General License (GL) 41, authorizing Chevron Corporation to resume limited natural resource extraction operations in Venezuela.

GL 41 authorizes:

1. Production and lifting of petroleum or petroleum products produced by the Chevron JVs, and any related maintenance, repair, or servicing of the Chevron JVs;

2. Sale to, exportation to, or importation into the United States of petroleum or petroleum products produced by the Chevron JVs, provided that the petroleum and petroleum products produced by the Chevron JVs are first sold to Chevron;

3. Ensuring the health or safety of personnel or the integrity of operations or assets of the Chevron JVs in Venezuela; and

4. Purchase and importation into Venezuela of goods or inputs related to the activities described in this general license, including diluents, condensates, petroleum, or natural gas products.

GL 41 explicitly does not authorize the sale of petroleum or petroleum products produced by or through the Chevron JVs for the exportation to any jurisdiction other than the United States.

This authorization prevents PdVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.) from receiving profits from the oil sales by Chevron. GL 41 authorizes activity related to Chevron’s joint ventures in Venezuela only, and does not authorize other activity with PdVSA. Other Venezuela-related sanctions and restrictions imposed by the United States remain in place.

This authorization automatically renews on the first day of each month and is valid for a period of six months from the effective date of General License No. 41 or the date of any subsequent renewal of General License No. 41, whichever is later.

The license was issued following the resumption of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.

Chevron is one of the leading private oil companies in Venezuela; its legacy dates back to the Boscán Field discovery in the 1920s. Boscán has produced heavy oil (10° API) for more than 60 years; the field had produced a cumulative 888 million barrels of oil by July 1996, when Chevron took over operation of the field.

Chevron currently holds a 39.2% interest in Petroboscan, which now operates the Boscán Field under an agreement expiring in 2026. Chevron also has a 30% interest in Petropiar, which operates the heavy oil Huyapari Field (extra heavy crude oil, 7° to 9° API) under an agreement expiring in 2033.

Chevron also holds a 25.2% interest in Petroindependiente, which operates the LL-652 Field in Lake Maracaibo under a contract expiring in 2026, and a 35.7% interest in Petroindependencia, which includes the Carabobo 3 extra heavy oil project (4° to 16° API) located in three blocks in the Orinoco Belt. The Petroindependencia contract expires in 2035.

Chevron also operates and holds a 60% interest in the Loran gas field offshore Venezuela. This is part of a cross-border field that includes the Manatee Field in Trinidad and Tobago. This license expires in 2039.