Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has refused to sell oil to companies without individual U.S. licenses in the past two weeks, four sources from companies seeking to buy cargoes told Reuters, limiting exports and preventing the country from draining brimming storage tanks faster.
Washington last month granted both a general license that broadly permits oil exports and individual licenses to traders Trafigura and Vitol to export oil worth billions of dollars. The permits followed a restricted U.S. license extended to Chevron earlier this year to export Venezuelan crude to the U.S.
Venezuela depends on oil export revenue and is in need of the sale proceeds to run its government. The general licenses are intended to exempt companies from U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, which Washington has relaxed since capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month.
However, buyers of Venezuelan oil say that the general license has not facilitated trade as much as needed. The broad nature of the general license has left many conditions open to interpretation, raising questions about what is permitted and what is off limits, sources said.
PDVSA's executives require specific U.S. guidance on which companies to trade with and clearer trading terms so it can track cargoes and secure proceeds, they said.
U.S. banks have also been reluctant to finance Venezuelan oil trade transactions, three sources said, citing the complex nature of the licenses.
"Some banks may not want to risk processing under them, or may not feel the activity is authorized... banks may be doing more due diligence," one of the two sources said.
Banks' reluctance to fund Venezuelan oil trade for now will mean little for the world's biggest traders who have generated billions of dollars in profits in recent years and are awash with cash. However, it is likely to present complications for smaller players who decide to participate in the Venezuelan oil trade.
The White House told Reuters that the Trump administration has issued several general licenses at record speed due to the overwhelming interest from oil and gas companies to invest in Venezuela's energy infrastructure.
"The President's team is working around the clock to field requests from oil and gas companies," spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments, as well as PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comments.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued two additional general licenses allowing oil and gas producers to operate in Venezuela. The move, which will let Chevron, bp, Eni, Shell and Repsol, in addition to other companies - expand activities, was the biggest relaxation of production-targeted sanctions yet.
