The Trump administration has ordered Chevron Corp to “wind down” its business in Venezuela by December 1 and allowed it to conduct only limited operations there until then. Chevron is the last major US oil company still operating in the country.
Chevron has had a special US operating license exempting it from sanctions on Venezuela’s vital oil sector since last January but the latest three-month waiver was due to expire on Wednesday.
The US action targets what some Trump administration officials say is a key financial lifeline for President Nicolas Maduro as the US seeks to stifle trade in Venezuelan crude and remove his grip on power.
Chevron and other US oil companies are being squeezed amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut. The collapse in oil prices has threatened to tilt the US oil industry into bankruptcy. Chevron’s shares have declined sharply since Monday.
The decision was made after a fierce debate in the administration, with some officials arguing the US needed to keep a corporate beachhead in the crisis-hit country while more hawkish Trump aides said staying in Venezuela was helping Maduro keep his grip on power.
