Chevron holds waiver from US that allows Venezuela operations. Some Republicans cast license as a lifeline for Maduro regime
Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Hadriana Lowenkron, Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON
EnergiesNet.com 02 19 2025
Chevron Corp.’s ability to continue exporting crude from Venezuela is under review, President Donald Trump said, signaling an openness to tighter restraints on the oil giant’s operations in the South American country.
“We’re looking at that now,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Tuesday. “We’re looking at the whole situation.”
Trump’s remarks underscore continued tensions with Venezuela that could spill over to the energy trade. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recently released American prisoners and accepted immigrants deported from the US following talks with Trump envoy Richard Grenell, moves seen as an effort to head off the threat of additional sanctions.
But asked Tuesday whether he would be inclined to continue to allow oil exports through Chevron, Trump said: “Maybe not.”
Despite sanctions curtailing business dealings in Venezuela, Chevron holds a waiver from the US government allowing it to continue operations in the country.
Related: Chevron Engages Trump Administration on Venezuela Crisis (video)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Republican politicians have called for the US to revoke that operating license, casting it as a financial lifeline for the Maduro regime. Chevron produces about a fifth of Venezuela’s oil and helped boost exports to a five-year high in 2024, nearing Maduro’s goal of 1 million barrels per day.
Chevron has been able to boost exports of synthetic oil through operational changes and equipment replacements, Bloomberg News reported last week.
“Chevron has been a constructive presence in Venezuela for over a century, where we have dedicated investments and a large workforce,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We conduct our business in Venezuela in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
Continued oil exports from Venezuela are seen as helping soften the potential impact of Trump’s promised tariffs on Canadian and Mexican crude, on hold until early March.
Trump on Tuesday criticized the Biden administration’s decision to enable oil development and exports from Venezuela, since the US is flush with its own crude resources. The US started buying billions of dollars of oil from Venezuela, Trump said, adding: “It gave them a new — really — lease on life.”
Instead of tapping America’s beautiful “liquid gold,” he said, the US under Biden “started paying a fortune to Venezuela. And we’re looking at that actually. Why did they do that? Why were they doing that? Why would they go to the enemy and give them billions and billions of dollars?”
Trump acknowledged Maduro’s decision to accept immigrants deported from the US despite previous vows to refuse them entry. Still, he said, “we’re looking at Venezuela very seriously.”
—With assistance from Stephanie Lai and Lucia Kassai.bloomberg.com 02 18 2025
