The Biden administration’s interest in regaining access to Venezuelan oil is facing stiff opposition at home over concerns it would prop up an autocratic regime that is a close ally of Russia. The pushback comes from both Republicans and many prominent Democrats, as well as Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition, that recently warned officials in Washington it is a mistake to consider turning Caracas back into an energy ally without restoring democracy there first, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Critics said the Biden administration had decided to relax oil sanctions on Venezuela if Maduro resumed oil exports to the United States and helped make up for the suspension of U.S. oil imports from Russia. U.S. officials met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the weekend before and demanded the country supply at least a portion of oil exports to the United States as part of any agreement to ease oil trading sanctions imposed on the country since 2019. Venezuela's oil output could rise by at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the United States authorizes requests by state-run PDVSA's partners to trade Venezuelan crude, the country's petroleum chamber said. The increase would allow the OPEC member's oil production, which in January averaged 755,000 bpd according to official figures, approach some 1.2 million bpd, said the president of Venezuela's Petroleum Chamber, Reinaldo Quintero.
After the meeting in Caracas, Venezuela released two Americans who had been detained and Maduro agreed to join back the negotiation table in Mexico. In October, Maduro suspended the negotiations with the opposition in retaliation for the extradition to the United States by Cape Verde of Alex Saab -- a Colombian national accused of acting as a money launderer for the Venezuelan socialist leader.
Also last week, Reuters reported that Venezuela's national oil giant PDVSA agreed to allocate heavy crude cargoes to India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and France's Maurel & Prom to settle obligations. Following progress in debt and dividend arrears discussions, PDVSA allotted cargoes of 2 million barrels and 1 million barrels to these oil businesses in recent months. According to people familiar with the situation, the businesses concluded the commercial terms of the deals but have yet to get the oil since the agreements are awaiting US approval. Last but not least, in a statement on Twitter, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said she and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met last Thursday to evaluate their countries' strategic relationship and discuss the "complex" world situation. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reaffirmed his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rodriguez and Lavrov met five days after US officials landed in Venezuela for the first time since the 1990s to meet with Maduro and recommend that Caracas send some of its oil shipments to the US as part of a deal to lift sanctions against the OPEC member country. |
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