US President Donald Trump is considering renewing the license of energy company Chevron to operate in Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing its sources.
According to the publication, Trump, during a meeting on Wednesday at the White House with Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and other oil industry executives, expressed “readiness to reverse the administration's recent decision to terminate Chevron's operations in Venezuela next month“.
At the same time, the president's team, as noted in the publication, is developing plans to impose tariffs and other financial sanctions on countries that buy Venezuelan oil. Details of such measures are "still being worked out", the sources said.
According to the publication, Wirth "is leading a lobbying campaign in Washington to persuade the Trump administration to give Chevron more time" to withdraw from Venezuela. He has already discussed the issue privately, including with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant.
Chevron's CEO is asking Washington to extend the company's operations in Venezuela by at least two months. The U.S. Treasury Department had previously ordered the company to suspend operations in the South American country by April 3. According to Wirth, if Chevron's license is revoked, US competitor China could gain access to Venezuela's oil resources.
On February 26, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to revoke the sanctions waiver in effect since March 1, which allowed US oil companies to operate in Venezuela.
At the end of November 2022, US authorities allowed Chevron to produce oil in the republic and supply it to the US, despite sanctions against Caracas. The corresponding license was later extended several times by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.