Trump revokes permission for Chevron, Repsol and other Western companies to export crude oil from Venezuela

President Donald Trump has reportedly instructed foreign partners of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDSVA, to halt all dealings and has revoked the permissions to export Venezuelan oil and by-products.

Last month Trump pulled the authorisation for Chevron to operate in Venezuela but his latest move expands the ban to non-American oil companies. Reuters reports that Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, France’s Maurel & Prom and India’s Reliance Industries have all received letters from Washington to revoke the authorisation.

It’s the latest of Trump’s economic and diplomatic efforts to sanction the Venezuelan regime. Many of the companies involved had already suspended oil imports from Venezuela after the White House announced new tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil and gas. The United States already has a series of sanctions on Venezuela but many companies, both US and foreign, were granted waivers during the Biden presidency.

Why is Trump banning Venezuelan oil?

Trump’s robust posture on Venezuela has been a common theme of his first few months back in the White House. Venezuela’s controversial leader President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third term back in January, despite credible evidence of election fraud.

More than 7.7 million Venezuelans are thought to have left the country during Maduro’s 12 years in charge. Most have gone to other Latin American countries but a sizeable proportion has moved to the US, something that Trump has used to justify heavy-handed immigration policy.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump claimed: “Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature”.

Last Friday the White House called for the Supreme Court to allow the government to deport immigrants using the Alien Enemies Act. It came after a federal court judge in Washington DC had blocked efforts to remove a group of Venezuelans allegedly involved in criminal gangs. Without proof, Trump had claimed that the ‘Tren de Aragua’ gang had “infiltrated” the US under orders from the Venezuelan government. No evidence was produced to definitively support this claim.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has not shied away from diplomatic confrontations and this dispute with Venezuela is just one in a long line of trade battles that the President has embarked upon. However while he has rowed back on other threats, this one looks set to remain.

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