The US may lift some sanctions on Venezuela to restore oil exports
The United States is considering partially lifting sanctions on Venezuela as early as next week to facilitate oil exports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this in a commentary to Reuters on 10 January. The main part concerns easing restrictions on oil sales, as well as establishing mechanisms for returning revenues to Venezuela, he said. Much of the export revenue is currently held in tankers or accounts that are difficult to access due to the sanctions regime. Bessent did not say which restrictions would be lifted, although he noted that a decision could be made in the coming days.
The minister also said that a meeting is planned next week with the leadership of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to confirm the resumption of cooperation with Venezuela. The IMF's Special Drawing Rights for Venezuela are frozen, totalling nearly $5 billion, and could be used, depending on how the U.S. Treasury addresses this financial situation, to stabilise and recover the Venezuelan economy, the U.S. Treasury said.
Bessent said the US would help "facilitate the (conversion) of assets into dollars, funding the state (so it can) meet basic needs and economic recovery." Existing sanctions also prevented international banks from working with the Venezuelan government unless they had special licences, making it difficult to restructure the country's foreign debt, which was estimated at around $150 billion, he added.
President Donald Trump's administration has said the moves are part of its plan to stabilise Venezuela and encourage US oil companies to return to the domestic market after the capture of former head of state Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January.
Photo: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent DW
