The Trump administration has granted Chevron a special license to keep drilling oil in Venezuela despite a ban on American companies doing business with President Nicols Maduros socialist government.
The Treasury Department late Friday renewed until April 22 the license for Chevron and four other U.S. service suppliers that are among the last American companies operating in the oil-rich South American nation. Its the fourth time the U.S. has exempted the companies from the Venezuela ban.
Chevron, a San Ramon, California-based company, has operated in Venezuela for almost a century. Its four joint ventures with Venezuelas state-run oil monopoly PDVSA produce about 200,000 barrels a day. Thats about a quarter of Venezuelas total production, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Critics among Venezuelas opposition insist that Chevrons continued presence in the country undercuts the Trump administrations goal of ousting Maduro by providing him a valuable lifeline of badly-needed export dollars.
(AP)
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