Searchable reference for the active OFAC general licences governing transactions with PdVSA, Chevron, CITGO, sovereign debt, gold-sector entities, and other Venezuela-related counterparties.
An OFAC general license authorises specific categories of transaction that would otherwise be prohibited by US sanctions, without each party having to apply for an individual specific license. For Venezuela, the most-watched general licences cover Chevron's lifting of crude (GL 41), the wind-down of operations involving newly designated entities (GL 45 family), and the protection of CITGO downstream operations (GL 7C). Use this tool to find the license you need; always read the full OFAC text before relying on it.
Conditionally authorises holders of the PdVSA 2020 bond to engage in transactions related to the bond's collateral on or after a specified effective date, subject to ongoing OFAC interpretation.
Critical for Venezuelan sovereign-debt holders — keeps the CITGO collateral question alive without forcing immediate enforcement.
Permits Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford to engage in essential maintenance operations involving PdVSA, with strict reporting requirements.
Underpins the limited continued presence of US oilfield service majors in Venezuela. Each renewal cycle is closely watched.
Permits Chevron to lift, sell, and import Venezuelan-origin crude oil and petroleum products into the United States subject to specific conditions, including no payment of taxes or royalties to the Government of Venezuela.
The single most important GL for the Venezuelan oil sector — restored Chevron's ability to physically lift crude after years of dormancy.
Allows discrete legal-settlement-related transactions involving the Government of Venezuela that would otherwise be blocked.
Used in legacy expropriation and ICSID-award contexts — narrow but important for arbitration practitioners.
Permits NGC and Shell to continue planning, drilling, financing, and offtake activities for the cross-border Dragon Gas Field project subject to specified conditions.
Key for the Dragon Field development and broader cross-border gas integration with Trinidad. Signals a US tolerance for limited regional energy cooperation.
A broader licence covering oil and gas sector transactions, periodically reissued with attached terms reflecting the political context (e.g. electoral conditionality).
When in force, this is the most consequential general licence in the Venezuelan energy space. Its renewal/expiration is directly tied to milestones agreed in the Barbados political dialogue.
Permits a limited wind-down period for transactions involving newly designated gold-sector entities, ensuring orderly counterparty exit rather than an immediate freeze.
Compliance teams should diary any GL 45 expiration date as a hard cut-off for blocked-counterparty exposure.
Permits transactions in certain Venezuelan securities (debt or equity) that were issued prior to specified Executive Orders, subject to secondary market trading conditions.
Foundational GL for distressed-debt secondary trading. Essential reading for any fund holding legacy Venezuelan paper.
Permits ongoing administrative transactions necessary for the operation of Nynas, a Swedish refining group historically linked to PdVSA.
The European compliance reference point — shows how OFAC treats EU entities with PdVSA legacy ownership.
Permits transactions involving CITGO Petroleum, CITGO Holding, and PDV Holding, which are blocked by virtue of their PdVSA ownership.
Why CITGO can keep operating in Texas and Louisiana refineries despite its parent being on the SDN list. Watch for any GL 7 modification — it directly affects the CITGO valuation in any restructuring scenario.
See related: OFAC Venezuela sanctions tracker · how to invest in Venezuela · latest sanctions briefings.