By Marianna Parraga
HOUSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Oil producer Chevron is in talks with the U.S. government to expand a key license to operate in Venezuela so it can increase crude exports to its own refineries and sell to other buyers, four sources close to the negotiations said on Wednesday.
The talks come as Washington and Caracas progress in negotiations to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the United States and President Donald Trump presses American oil companies to invest in the South American country’s energy sector.
Chevron is the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela, which it does under an authorization from the U.S. government that exempts it from sanctions on the country.
Washington is also pushing to have other U.S. companies involved in oil exports from Venezuela, including refiner Valero Energy, which was a customer of state company PDVSA before sanctions, and majors Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, whose Venezuelan assets were expropriated two decades ago, three separate industry sources said.
Chevron, Valero, Exxon and Conoco and the U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
PDVSA said on Wednesday it was progressing in negotiations with the U.S. for oil exports to that country under commercial terms similar to those in place for its most important joint venture partner, Chevron.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; additional reporting by Sheila Dang, Daphne Psaledakis and Reuters Staff. Editing by Simon Webb and Anna Driver)
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