U.S. eyes further easing of Venezuela sanctions to unlock more oil - report

[Nice pumpjack oil extraction and cloudy sky in sunset with the Venezuela flag on oil barrels 3D rendering]

The Trump administration is planning further steps to ease sanctions on Venezuela to unlock more oil as crude prices continue to soar amid the Iran war, _Bloomberg News _reported, citing people familiar with the plan.

The moves include issuing additional individual licenses for foreign companies to work in Venezuela and setting up a broader mechanism to make it easier for more companies to enter the country.

Companies that are set to receive authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department to operate in Venezuela include a unit of India's state-run ONGC Videsh, Stockholm-based Maha Capital AB and Brazilian firm J&F Investimentos.

So far, the Trump administration has issued only a few licenses for oil companies to operate in Venezuela. These include Chevron (CVX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CVX]), Shell (SHEL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SHEL]), BP (BP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BP]), Eni (E [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/E]), Repsol (REPYY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/REPYY]), and Maurel et Prom (EBLMY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EBLMY]).

It's unclear if further easing of Venezuela sanctions will lead to near-term production gains. The country currently pumps around 1M bbl/day.

Venezuela can't produce additional oil fast enough to offset soaring prices, according to Francisco Monaldi, director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Monaldi expects Venezuela to boost production by just 300,000 bbl/day this year. "It's completely marginal in the short term," he told [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-17/us-to-ease-venezuela-sanctions-to-unlock-more-oil-amid-iran-war] _Bloomberg_.

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