Sources say that Repsol, Maurel & Prom are applying to the US for licenses to export Venezuelan crude oil.
Five industry sources have confirmed that several?European oil companies, including Spain's Repsol, France's Maurel & Prom and France's Repsol, have applied to the United States for licenses or authorizations in order to export Venezuelan oil.
Two sources confirmed that the terms requested are similar to the ones Washington granted in the past, which allowed companies to import and export Venezuelan crude oil to their refineries, as well as to other customers. Fuel was also supplied to Venezuela via a debt recovery mechanism.
Since the second quarter last year, the companies have been unable to export Venezuelan crude oil after President Donald Trump's administration suspended the licenses. Repsol was invited to a White House meeting where Trump requested that a group oil companies invest in Venezuela.
Repsol declined comment. Maurel & Prom didn't immediately respond to a?request for comment.
A U.S. Treasury spokeswoman said last week that the department would not comment on any specific authorizations. Washington, however, has stated its intention to ease sanctions against Venezuela, which have been in place since 2019 following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
PDVSA’s European partners may be involved in several projects in Venezuela, and each project could require a separate authorization. Sources said that some requests were submitted months ago while others have been resubmitted recently.
Sources said that U.S. companies, foreign refiners, and global trading firms have all?recently submitted license applications for Venezuela, which are all related to the OPEC nation's oil supply. Sources said that the petitions were in response to a group of two authorizations given last week?to traders Vitol & Trafigura which allowed for the first $500m in oil sales.
Caracas and Washington agreed this month to a 50 million barrel crude supply agreement, the first phase of Trump's ambitious plan to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorated oil industry.
According to reports on Wednesday, Chevron will receive an expanded license this week from the U.S. Government that could allow for increased production from South America.
Industry sources claim that Valero Energy in the U.S., Reliance of India, and Mercuria and Glencore, traders from Mercuria, were also in talks with Washington for licenses to do business in Venezuela. Marathon Petroleum confirmed via email that it is also in discussions for a license. (Reporting from Georgina McCartney and Arathy Sommesekhar. Marianna Pararaga, Jarrett Renshaw, Pietro Lombardi. Francesca Landini, America Hernandez and Francesca Landini contributed additional reporting. Nathan Crooks, Mark Potter and Nathan Crooks)
(source: Reuters)
