HOUSTON (Reuters) – A U.S. license allowing Chevron Corp to expand Venezuela’s oil production and export its oil will be designed to prevent the country’s state-run oil firm PDVSA to profit from the sales, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The largest U.S. oil company still operating in the OPEC nation is expected to win U.S. approval to vastly expand operations in Venezuela as soon as Saturday. Any approval would allow it to resume producing and export crude oil that has been barred by U.S. sanctions.
Terms of the U.S. license under consideration will “prevent PDVSA from receiving profits from the oil sales by Chevron,” the person said. The license would be granted once the Venezuelan government returns to the negotiating table with opposition leaders.
Details of the terms came after some senators on Wednesday questioned U.S. government officials about the expanded license. White House officials want to “shift oil sales from illicit and non-transparent channels to transparent, legitimate channels,” the person said.
A Chevron spokesman did not comment on the terms of the proposed license, but said its Venezuelan operations are “in compliance with the current sanctions framework.”
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
