The United States has granted exemptions to Spanish and Italian oil companies for Venezuelan crude in an effort to reduce their heavy dependence on Russian energy.
Media reports on Sunday indicate that the US State Department has granted exemptions to Spain’s Repsol SA and Italy’s Eni SpA to begin transporting Venezuelan oil to Europe.
Venezuela owes both companies for work that was incomplete due to US sanctions against Caracas.
The two oil companies that were forced by the United States to suspend oil trading to meet their debt in mid-2020 will reportedly resume operations next month.
Last month, the State Department secretly sent letters to Repsol and Annie stating that if oil companies resumed oil-for-debt transactions and brought crude oil to Europe, Washington would not object.
Washington’s exemption from two European countries to resume Venezuelan oil flow is seen as a victory for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela has been the subject of a boycott and siege of the US-led economic war with the aim of overthrowing Maduro’s democratically elected government.
Latin American oil production fell below one million barrels per day after former US President Donald Trump halted Venezuela’s oil production in January 2019.
HIDAYAT TV Official
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