U.S., Venezuela to discuss easing sanctions in exchange for oil, WSJ says

MOSCOW, 6 Oct — PRIME. The U.S. and Venezuelan authorities will discuss easing sanctions in exchange for allowing U.S. companies to resume pumping oil, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“The Joe Biden administration is preparing to ease sanctions so that Chevron can resume pumping oil there,” the publication notes, emphasizing the emerging opportunity to supply oil from Venezuela to the US and European markets.

In exchange for a significant easing of sanctions, the government of Nicolás Maduro will have to resume dialogue with the opposition to discuss the terms of elections in 2024, according to the newspaper’s sources.

At the moment, the parties are developing a deal that will release hundreds of millions of dollars of Venezuelan funds frozen in American banks to pay for food, medicines and equipment, the agency’s interlocutors add.

According to US officials, the deal may fail, but even if the deal goes through, the market will receive a limited amount of “black gold” in the short term.