<article><p class="lead">Chevron and four US oil field service providers will be allowed to continue operating in Venezuela until 22 January, nearly a year from the date when the White House first imposed sanctions on the Opec country.</p><p>The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today renewed the sanctions waiver for a second time for Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International to continue operations in Venezuela. The current authorization would have expired on 25 October. The terms of the authorization prevent Chevron from importing into Venezuela diluents required to keep a large chunk of crude exports flowing from that country.</p><p>Most, if not all, of the services companies have already left Venezuela, but Chevron is state-owned PdV's main western partner. OFAC placed PdV on its sanctions list in January as part of a package of measures designed to force Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to give up power. The US at the same time recognized Venezuelan National Assembly president Juan Guaido as the country's interim leader. But Maduro remains in control of the country.</p><p>The US administration faced a dilemma as it considered whether to extend Chevron's Venezuela waiver. The White House heard arguments in favor of revoking Chevron's license as a way to further pressure the Maduro government. But PdV officials have said privately that Chevron's withdrawal would be a major blow to an industry that is producing only 650,000 b/d, less than half the output of a year ago. Guaido's team argued in favor of keeping Chevron's waiver in place. </p><p>Maduro has said he would expropriate Chevron's assets if the company leaves Venezuela. The White House also heard arguments from industry analysts suggesting Chevron's departure would not significantly accelerate the decline in Venezuela's production and would merely result in the takeover of its assets by Russian and Chinese companies.</p><p>OFAC last week also extended a sanctions waiver for Swedish specialty products refiner Nynas to continue Venezuela operations for a six-month period. OFAC required Nynas to stop purchasing Venezuelan-origin petroleum or petroleum products. The terms of Chevron's sanctions waiver do not contain such a restriction. But Chevron will be unable to market Venezuelan crude in the US markets as US sanctions prohibit such imports.</p><p>The Venezuelan assets are a small part of Chevron's global portfolio. Chevron's combined net daily offtake in 2018 from four joint ventures averaged 42,000 b/d of crude and 9mn cf/d (255,000 m3/d) of associated natural gas, according to the company.</p><p>Chevron owns a 30pc share in the PetroPiar crude upgrader, which PdV is converting into a blending facility. The company also holds 39.2pc and 25.2pc stakes, respectively, in the PetroBoscan and PetroIndependiente heavy oil ventures. A 400,000 b/d PetroIndependencia Orinoco extra-heavy crude joint venture, in which Chevron has a 34pc share, is in the early stages of development.</p></article>
