By Arathy Somasekhar and Marianna Parraga
HOUSTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has refused to sell oil to companies without individual U.S. licenses for the past two weeks, four sources at the companies that want to buy the goods told Reuters, limiting exports and preventing the country from emptying full storage tanks faster.
Washington last month granted both a blanket license that broadly allows oil exports and individual licenses to traders Trafigura and Vitol to export billions of dollars worth of oil. The permits followed a restricted US license extended to Chevron last year to export Venezuelan crude to the US
Venezuela depends on revenue from oil exports and needs the proceeds from the sale to run its government. The general licenses are intended to exempt the companies from US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, which Washington has eased since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month.
However, buyers of Venezuelan oil say the blanket license has not facilitated trade as much as needed. The broad nature of the general license left many terms open to interpretation, raising questions about what is allowed and what is prohibited, the sources said.
PDVSA executives need specific guidance from the U.S. on which companies to trade with and clearer trading terms so they can track cargo and secure revenue, they said.
U.S. banks have also been reluctant to finance commercial Venezuelan oil deals, three sources said, citing the complex nature of the licenses.
“Some banks may not want to risk processing on their basis or may not feel the activity is authorized … banks may do more due diligence,” one of the two sources said.
Banks’ reluctance to finance Venezuela’s oil trade for now will mean little to the world’s biggest traders, which have generated billions of dollars in profits in recent years and are flush with cash. However, it is likely to present complications for smaller players who decide to participate in the Venezuelan oil trade.
The White House told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration had issued more general licenses at a record speed due to overwhelming interest from oil and gas companies in investing in Venezuela’s energy infrastructure.
“The president’s team is working around the clock to respond to requests from oil and gas companies,” said spokesman Taylor Rogers. The US Departments of Energy and Treasury, as well as PDVSA, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday issued two additional general licenses allowing oil and gas producers to operate in Venezuela. The move, which will allow Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol – among other companies – to expand their activities was the biggest easing of sanctions targeting production so far.