On Saturday, the Biden Administration said it will lift an oil sanction against Venezuela, making this the first step in the right direction in a multi-year U.S. embargo. The Treasury Department is set to join with Petróleos de Venezuela, the state oil company.
The U.S. is expected to regain control of oil production, and of Chevron, which is the only active U.S. oil company instated in the South American nation. The Treasury Department has authorized this— however, a start date and finalizations are underway.
U.S. sanctions against Venezuela began 15 years ago due to the nation’s notorious drug trafficking, corruption and human rights abuses. Under the Trump administration, the former president strengthened actions against Petróleos de Venezuela and the central bank. There were no oil transactions between the U.S. and Venezuela at the time.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition coalition, Unitary Platform, came to an agreement to enact a $3 billion humanitarian program in order to conserve negotiations to have fair elections in the nation.
This leaves American gas consumers with one question: what does this mean for the price at the pump?
“This action is not being taken in response to energy prices, this is a limited license. As we have said in the past, this is about the regime taking the steps needed to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” a Biden administration official told Axios.
Venezuelan gas consumers saw an increase in the price of gasoline for motor vehicles and motorcycles, according to the Venezuelan state oil firm statement given on Saturday.
“They didn’t tell anyone,” a Venezuelan gasoline station owner told Reuters. “It was just overnight.”
“The US should not be going to Venezuela for oil,” said Umair Sheikh, 19, student at Stony Brook University. “Instead of going abroad for oil and supporting an evil socialist dictatorship, we should focus on extracting the oil in the US and becoming energy independent. This would help eliminate America’s reliance on other hostile nations for our oil and lower energy prices significantly.”
It’s uncertain if consumers will see a price hike at the pump, or if they’ll be relieved of the recent arduous prices. As finalizations are underway, and after a fair election is held, the U.S. will proceed with their decision to use Venezuelan oil.
