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Oil firms that want to do business in Venezuela following Nicolás Maduro’s ouster are still unsure when the Treasury Department will give them the green light.
They’re “going to have to come into this at some point, and so we do need some direction,” Winston & Strawn’s Cari Stinebower, a former Office of Foreign Assets Control counsel who helped lift sanctions on Libya, said. “What we had expected was there would be a series of general licenses and, if things continued to progress forward, eventually the executive orders would be revoked. But we’re even one step before that, because they’re still at the issuing-specific-licenses stage.”
Officials haven’t signaled if they’re even weighing general licenses, Stinebower added.
In response, one official told Semafor: “As the Administration moves quickly at President Trump’s direction, we are reviewing the existing legal parameters and restrictions with respect to sanctions.”
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“As a reminder, the Government of Venezuela has been sanctioned for years,” the official added.
Still, many corners of corporate America are clamoring for more insight into Treasury’s next steps, particularly as the department reportedly moves to expand some firms’ licenses. Secretary Scott Bessent told the Economic Club of Minnesota earlier this month that “phones are ringing off the hook” even while bigger questions over issues like political instability and past losses keep some industry heavyweights on the sidelines.
“When you think about the business decisions that the companies have to make, that’s really driven by your risk and potential for returns — and so understanding in this new dynamic what the ability is to have your contracts protected, to have your property protected, and understanding those legal risks is almost the most important clarification the companies need to do the type of investment that they would like to be able to do,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said.