On Tuesday, the Trump administration halted Chevron's oil production in Venezuela for 30 days.
President Trump overturned a Biden-era license that allowed oil giants to operate in Venezuela despite US sanctions. This is a U-turn from January, where the White House appears to be making progress in Maduro.
The Treasury has given the US-based oil giant an April 3 deadline, raising stakes much faster than the usual six-month wind blowing period.
“Closing the operation of a chevron in a month is almost impossible,” he said. Washington's Atlantic Council told Bloomberg. “We are confident that if new terms are negotiated, we will be managing the space for license renewal in April.”
In a statement, Chevron said its Venezuela operations comply with all laws and regulations, including US sanctions imposed during Trump's first term.
“We are aware of the President's orders and will adhere to any direction given by the US Treasury to implement those instructions,” a Chevron spokesperson told the Post.
Chevron's oil production in Venezuela could ultimately remove up to 200,000 barrels a day from the global market, according to Bloomberg.
It is unlikely to have an immediate impact on prices, especially since OPEC decided to promote production this week. It plans to increase 138,000 barrels per day in April.
But Chevron's exit could shrink Venezuela's economy by up to 7.5% this year, according to Finance Observatory, a research group run by the opposition.
Republican lawmakers have denounced the Biden administration's waiver, claiming that Chevron has become the backbone of the country's economy in a Maduro-compatible state.
Chevron's joint venture with state-run Petrolos de Venezuela SA has accounted for roughly $4 billion in taxes since its approval in 2022, according to EcoAnalytica, a Caracas-based consulting firm.
In January, Trump sent Richard Grenell, the special envoy of the White House, to meet Maduro in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
The United States has been trying to restore the country's fair elections and bring out the exiles back to Maduro.
Nearly eight million Venezuelans left the country during Maduro's reign. According to the Wall Street Journal. Francisco Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Denver, allowed more people to choose to escape as Venezuela's economy dies without chevrons.
Grenell reportedly reportedly signed up to maintain his oil license for at least for the time being.
After the trip, the White House took home six of at least 13 Americans who were jailed in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Maduro sent two planes to a military base in Texas, picking up deported migrants and a third jet that retrieved more citizens from Honduras.
However, as Trump revealed his plan to kill the Biden administration's immigration, the migrant flights welcomed by late February were migrant flights.
“This reverses the concessions Joe Biden has given to Nicholas Maduro,” the president wrote. True Social Post February 26th.
He said the Maduro regime did not meet fair election conditions or that “violent criminals… transported at a rapid pace they agreed to.”
Later that day, Donald Trump Jr. published an interview with Venezuela opposition leader Marie Corina Machado.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the next day's post would double and that his Biden-era oil license would be revoked, saying that he “bankrolled the embarrassingly of the Maduro administration.”
