Summary Of Recent OFAC Licenses Impacting Key Venezuela Sectors

Overview

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has issued multiple new and amended general licenses affecting a range of Venezuela‑related activities. This post provides a high-level summary of each authorization based on recently issued General Licenses 46B, 47, 48A, 49A, 50A, 51A, 52, 53, 54 and 55. 

Energy and Petrochemical Sector Authorizations

• GL 46B authorizes transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the lifting, exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, marketing, purchase, delivery, and transportation of Venezuelan‑origin oil (including refining) and Venezuelan‑origin petrochemical products for importation into the United States by an established U.S. entity (as defined in the license). Following the license terms, contracts with the Government of Venezuela, PdVSA, or PdVSA entities must be governed by U.S. law and include U.S.-based dispute resolution, and any monetary payment to a blocked person (excluding local taxes, permits, or fees) must be routed to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds. GL 46B also authorizes commercially reasonable swaps of crude oil, diluents, or refined petroleum products and includes shipping, chartering, marine insurance, and port services. It excludes non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, debt swaps, payments in gold, and digital currency issued by or for the Government of Venezuela (including the petro), and prohibits transactions involving Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or entities in Venezuela or the United States that are owned or controlled by, or in a joint venture with, a person located in or organized under the laws of China, as well as the unblocking of property and transactions involving blocked vessels. We note that reporting to State and DOE is required for exports of Venezuelan‑origin oil to countries other than the United States.
• GL 47 authorizes transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, marketing, delivery, or transportation of U.S.-origin diluents to Venezuela, including associated payment processing, shipping, chartering, marine insurance, and port services, so long as contracts with Venezuelan government or PdVSA entities are similarly governed by U.S. law with U.S.‑based dispute resolution. Following the license terms, prohibited activities include non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, debt swaps, payments in gold, digital currency issued by or for the Venezuelan government, transactions involving certain Iran, DPRK, or Cuba‑linked persons, unblocking of property, and dealings involving blocked vessels. We note that reporting requirements apply to persons exporting or supplying diluents under the license.
• GL 48A authorizes U.S. persons to provide goods, technology, software, and services for exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or petrochemical products in Venezuela, and for generation, transmission, storage, or distribution of electricity in Venezuela, with U.S.‑law contract and payment‑routing requirements matching those in other GLs. Following the text of the license, authorized activities include logistics, marine insurance, port services, and maintenance, refurbishment, or repair of relevant operational items. We also note that the license prohibits non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, digital currency, gold payments, transactions involving Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or China‑linked entities, the unblocking of property, dealings with blocked vessels, formation of new joint ventures, and any export or reexport of diluents to Venezuela.
• GL 50A authorizes transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela of the specific companies listed in its Annex and their subsidiaries, subject to U.S.‑law contract and payment‑routing requirements to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds. Following the license text, it prohibits non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, debt swaps, gold or digital‑currency payments, dealings involving Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or China‑linked entities, unblocking of property, and dealings with blocked vessels. We also note that reporting is required for transactions conducted under the license.
• GL 52 authorizes transactions involving PdVSA or PdVSA entities that are prohibited by E.O. 13884 or E.O. 13850 when conducted by an established U.S. entity, provided that contracts are governed by U.S. law and payments to blocked persons are routed to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds. The license also authorizes certain Government of Venezuela transactions necessary for these activities, subject to the same payment restrictions. We note that GL 52 does not authorize transactions otherwise prohibited under VSR (including those related to bonds, certain debt, or equity transfers), enforcement of judgments or liens regarding blocked property, dealings with SDNs other than PdVSA, non‑commercial payment terms, gold or digital‑currency payments, unblocking of property, transactions involving blocked vessels, or dealings with specified Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, and entities in Venezuela or the United States that are owned or controlled by, or in a joint venture with, a person located in or organized under the laws of China. Following the license terms, reporting applies to exports of Venezuelan oil or petrochemicals to non‑U.S. destinations.

We discuss additional licenses issued outside the scope of Venezuela’s energy sector below.

Investment‑Related Authorization

•  GL 49A authorizes negotiating and entering into contingent contracts (defined to include executory contracts, pro forma invoices, agreements in principle, bids, offers, MOUs, and similar agreements) for new investment in Venezuela’s oil, gas, petrochemical, or electricity sectors, including forming new joint ventures or expanding existing operations, provided that performance is expressly contingent on separate OFAC authorization. The license also provides that prefatory due‑diligence activities are authorized. We note the license, similar to others discussed, does not authorize dealings with Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or China‑linked entities, unblocking of property, or transactions involving blocked vessels.

Mineral Authorization

• Recently amended GL 51A authorizes established U.S. entities to conduct transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, purchase, delivery, importation into the United States, refining in the United States, and resale or exportation of Venezuelan‑origin minerals, including gold, covering due‑diligence activities, logistics, security, shipping, marine insurance, and port services, subject to U.S.‑law contract and payment‑routing requirements. Following its terms, the license prohibits non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, in‑kind payments, digital currency, dealings with Russia/Iran/DPRK/Cuba or certain China‑linked entities, unblocking of property, use of blocked vessels, and any mining, exploration, development, extraction, processing, refining, or production of minerals in Venezuela or formation of joint ventures for these purposes. We note that reports are required every 30 days under this license. Additionally, following the recent amendment, GL 51A expands the authorization to cover Venezuelan‑origin “minerals” generally (not only gold), expressly includes processing or refining of such minerals except where prohibited in paragraph (b), adds a bar on processing or refining Venezuelan‑origin minerals in Russia, Iran, the DPRK, Cuba, or China, and requires that the first detailed report be submitted within ten days of the first covered transaction.
• Recently issued GL 54 authorizes transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the provision from the United States or by a U.S. person of goods, technology, software, or services for the exploration, development, mining, extraction, processing, refining, or production of Venezuelan‑origin minerals, including gold, when conducted under U.S.‑law‑governed contracts requiring U.S.‑based dispute resolution and routing payments for blocked persons to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds. Authorized activities include payment processing, shipping and logistics services (including chartering vessels), marine insurance, port and terminal services, and maintenance, refurbishment, or repair of items used in minerals operations. The license excludes non‑commercially‑reasonable payment terms, debt swaps, payments in gold, digital‑currency‑denominated payments, dealings with Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or China‑linked entities, unblocking of property, use of blocked vessels, and formation of new joint ventures for minerals activities. Following the terms of the license, reporting is required ten days after the first covered transaction and every 90 days thereafter.
• Issued in conjunction with GL 54, GL 55, authorizes transactions related to negotiating and entering into contingent contracts (including executory contracts, agreements in principle, pro forma invoices, bids, binding MOUs, and similar agreements) for new investment in Venezuela’s minerals sector, including the gold sector, provided that performance is expressly contingent on separate OFAC authorization. The authorization covers contingent contracts for new or expanded exploration, development, mining, extraction, processing, refining, or production activities, as well as the formation of new joint ventures, and permits prefatory due‑diligence activities. We note the license does not authorize dealings involving persons or entities in Russia, Iran, DPRK, Cuba, or China, unblocking of property, or transactions involving blocked vessels.

Mission Authorization

• Lastly, GL 53 authorizes transactions related to providing goods or services in the United States to official missions of the Government of Venezuela, their employees, and their dependents when such goods or services are for official or personal use and not for resale, with a prohibition on real‑property transactions and a requirement that activities not be otherwise prohibited by law. Following the terms of GL 53, U.S. financial institutions may operate accounts, extend credit, and process funds transfers for the missions subject to these limitations.

Key Takeaways

Collectively, these general licenses authorize a defined set of activities across Venezuela’s oil, gas, petrochemical, electricity, and gold sectors, as well as limited transactions for official missions in the United States, subject to license‑specific conditions; in many of the sectoral licenses, these conditions include U.S.‑law‑governed contracts, routing of certain payments to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds, and recurring reporting obligations, these licenses preserve prohibitions (including gold and digital currency as applicable), dealings involving blocked property or blocked vessels, and specified counterparty restrictions, according to each license’s terms. We are happy to discuss the scope and applicability of any of the licenses above to a specific transaction or activity. 
We emphasize that the situation surrounding Venezuela remains dynamic, and additional licensing continues to be released concerning the U.S. Venezuela sanctions programs.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.