Chevron ends the contracts, but it will keep the employees in Venezuela, the sources say

(Reuters) -Chevron ended the oil production contracts, services and purchases that were forced to work in Venezuela, and imposed the governance of the joint participation of its partner, PDVSA said, but it plans to keep its direct employees in the country.

The company said that a major license for Chevron to work in Venezuela was canceled by the government of US President Donald Trump in March, and it moved for a period of two months granted to end transactions this week, set them and end the license.

However, in recent days, the American producer has received a narrow license from the Trump administration that allows it to maintain assets, including its shared shares and kept in employees, which have expanded in recent years.

The guidelines are similar to the conditions of the US license that Chevron had between 2020 and 2022 before the expansion of the administration of President Joe Biden to allow the company to expand in Venezuela and the resumption of crude exports to the United States

Chevron and many European companies have requested our permits to maintain assets in the country of South America, amid Trump’s restriction policy towards the nation. It was not immediately clear whether other companies have received similar instructions.

After the new guidelines, Chevron’s executive directors met this week with contractors and senior officials of the Venezuelan, including Oil Minister Delsey Rodriguez to report the following steps, according to the sources.

Under the new mandate, Chevron cannot operate oil fields in Venezuela, export their activities or expand their activities because they are to avoid any possible payments to the management of President Nicholas Maduro.

The US Treasury did not respond to a request for comment. Chevron said it remains compatible with all applicable laws and regulations, including the framework of the sanctions stipulated by the United States

“The attacks and illegal measures against PDVSA have not stopped growing,” the government company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that production in oil fields was normal. “Our contribution to the growth of the economy does not need licenses.”

In April, Venezuela canceled shipments that are scheduled to refer to Chevron, citing uncertainty in paying US sanctions, which abandoned the deadline on May 27 to calm transactions. Chevron was exported up to 290,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil or more than a third of the country before that.

Three of the sources said that it is expected that PDVSA, who has the stakeholder in the majority of joint projects, will continue to oversee the workers of oil fields, although the additional compensation bonus carried out by Chevron has been suspended for its subscribed workers in the project.

The state company also takes the raw sales produced by projects, which may lead to a new accumulation of debts owed to its partner. Earlier this month, the state company began exporting a heavy ore jointly produced.

Trump Maduro accuses of not making progress in the returns of migrants and electoral reforms. Maduro rejected the sanctions by the United States and others, saying it was up to an economic war.

(Reuters ’reports, edited by Chris Reese and Nick Ziminski, participated in the reports of Reuters.