United States temporarily authorizes transactions involving oil, gas and gold in Venezuela 6 December 2023 No.23-015 Tweet Download PDF (311KB) The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently issued 4 general licenses suspending certain sanctions in relation to transactions involving oil, gas, and gold in Venezuela. This includes a six-month General License No. 44 (“GL 44”) Authorizing Transactions Relating to Oil or Gas Sector Operations in Venezuela (available here ), which will only be renewed if Venezuela meets its commitments under the electoral roadmap as well as other commitments.   I. GENERAL LICENSE 44: OIL AND GAS According to the GL in question, all transactions prohibited by the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 591 (the VSR), including transactions involving Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) or any entity in which PdVSA owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest that are related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, April 18, 2024 , including:   Production, lifting, sale, and exportation of oil or gas from Venezuela, and provision of related goods and services; Payment of invoices for goods or services related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela; New investment in oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela; and Delivery of oil and gas from Venezuela to creditors of the Government of Venezuela, including creditors of PdVSA Entities, for the purpose of debt repayment.   With respect to the shipping industry, the carriage of oil or gas from Venezuela would fall within the scope of “related goods and services” set forth in section (a)(1) of GL 44, provided such carriage does not violate the prohibitions set forth in section (b) of GL 44, which includes the following:   Designated financial institutions. Paragraph (b)(1) provides that GL 44 does not authorize any transactions involving any financ