Payments designated for blocked persons or entities, excluding taxes, permits and certain local fees, must be deposited into Foreign Government Deposit Funds or other Treasury-determined accounts. These funds were established by executive order on January 9, 2026 following Nicolás Maduro’s capture. The funds legally remain Venezuelan property under US custody, with the Secretary of State determining permitted disbursements for public, governmental or diplomatic purposes while Treasury executes those instructions. The mechanism lacks detailed public criteria for payment decisions and independent external auditing beyond Treasury’s discretion to provide Congressional reports.
The licensing structure connects to the broader August agreement involving North American Blue Energy Partners, controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, covering assets with 65,000 million barrels of proven reserves. The US government obtained 35 percent participation in the company’s expansion without direct public capital and secured rights to purchase 20 percent of generated oil at production cost with preferential rights on remaining output.
Continental Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with PDVSA for the Ayacucho 2 block in the Orinoco Belt, covering 126,000 acres with estimated resources of 30,000 million barrels. The Oklahoma-based company plans to convert the memorandum into a long-term partnership within weeks. Chevron, GE Vernova, Eni, Geopark Limited and Aspect Holdings also formalized agreements in recent weeks. The license explicitly excludes operations with persons or companies from Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba, and bars Venezuelan or US companies controlled by or associated with Chinese entities.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
