The administration of former US President Joe Biden secretly allowed Chevron to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the Venezuelan government, despite sanctions prohibiting such payments, Bloomberg reported, citing its sources.
An addition to the sanctions relief granted in November 2022 allowed Chevron to remain within the law by paying taxes and royalties to Venezuela. The sources noted that the initial approval from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowed the company to carry out limited activities in Venezuela.
The Trump administration had previously terminated the agreement and demanded that Chevron cease operations in the country.
Meanwhile, earlier The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, wrote that Trump was exploring the possibility of extending Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela.
On February 26, US President Donald Trump announced the decision to revoke, effective March 1, the exemption from the sanctions regime that allowed US oil companies to operate in Venezuela.