The outgoing administration of US president Joe Biden extended authorization for oilfield services companies Halliburton, SLB, Baker Hughes and Weatherford to continue working in Venezuela until 9 May 2025.
The waiver allows the service companies to pay their staff and maintain limited operations, but it prevents them from drilling new wells or otherwise contributing to state-owned PdV's production and exports.
The Biden administration reimposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector in April, after a six-month reprieve. The sole exemption is a waiver for Chevron allowing it to import oil into the US from its joint venture with state-owned PdV. US crude imports from Venezuela averaged 212,000 b/d in January-August, US Energy Information Administration data show. Chevron's Venezuela output has stood at about 200,000 b/d.
Neither president-elect Donald Trump nor his campaign addressed the Venezuela sanctions regime or indicated if they would change it. Republicans in Congress ahead of the election called for the Chevron exemption to be revoked.
The Biden administration separately extended a prohibition for holders of $3.4bn in PdV 2020 bonds guaranteed by 50.1pc in US refiner Citgo's holding company to exercise their claim, this time until 7 March 2025.
The PdV bondholders in theory hold a superior claim to Citgo Holding — a legal entity that directly owns Citgo and, in turn, is owned by Citgo parent company PdVH. A federal court in Delaware recently oversaw an auction of PdVH shares that yielded a $7.3bn bid from a company backed by investors including Elliott Investment Management. Legal wrangling over the bids and the distribution of auction proceeds is likely to keep Citgo ownership unresolved in the near term.
