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Trump says Venezuela not taking migrants back fast enough

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Trump also cites Venezuela's 'electoral conditions'

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November 2022 oil agreement coincides with Chevron ( CVX ) license

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U.S. oil licenses boosted Venezuela's economy

By Matt Spetalnick, Marianna Parraga and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump on Wednesday said he was reversing a license given to

Chevron ( CVX ) to operate in Venezuela by his predecessor Joe

Biden more than two years ago, accusing President Nicolas Maduro

of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was "reversing the

concessions" of the "oil transaction agreement, dated November

26, 2022."

Trump did not name Chevron ( CVX ) in his comments, but Washington

granted Chevron ( CVX ) a license to operate in Venezuela's oil sector

on November 26, 2022. It was the only license that the

administration issued for Venezuela that day.

Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the U.S.

government had made a "damaging and inexplicable" decision on

the Chevron ( CVX ) license.

The White House and the U.S. State Department did not

immediately respond to requests for further detail. Chevron ( CVX ) did

not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since his return to office in January, Trump has repeatedly

said the U.S. does not need Venezuelan oil and left open the

possibility of revoking Chevron's ( CVX ) operating license for the

country.

Trump's announcement follows his declaration in early

February that Caracas had agreed to receive all Venezuelan

migrants in the United States illegally and provide for their

transportation back.

That came a day after U.S. envoy Richard Grenell met with

Maduro in Caracas and brought six U.S. detainees back with him.

Maduro was inaugurated for a third term in January following a

disputed election last year.

Trump during his first term pursued a "maximum pressure"

sanctions policy against Maduro's government, especially

targeting Venezuela's vital energy sector.

After initially easing sanctions to encourage fair and

democratic elections, Biden in April reinstated broad oil

sanctions, saying Maduro failed to keep his electoral promises.

But Biden had left the Chevron ( CVX ) license intact, along with U.S.

authorizations granted to several other foreign oil companies.

Tax and royalty payments resulting from Chevron's ( CVX ) license

have provided a steady source of revenue to Maduro's

administration since early 2023, a source familiar with

Venezuela's oil industry said. The money has lifted Venezuela's

economy, especially its oil and banking sectors, which expanded

last year.

Venezuela's oil output in 2024 expanded to some 900,000

barrels per day (bpd) and exports rose 10.5% to around 772,000

bpd, mainly fueled by the U.S. licenses.

Chevron's ( CVX ) automatically renewing license allowed it to

expand crude output at joint ventures with state oil company

PDVSA and send some 240,000 bpd to its own refineries and other

customers.

ELECTORAL CONDITIONS 'NOT BEEN MET'

Trump said in Wednesday's post that Maduro had not met

"electoral conditions" and that he was not transporting

Venezuelans back to the United States at a pace that had been

agreed to.

The oil concession agreement would be terminated as of the

March 1 option to renew, he added.

It was not immediately clear what would happen with cargoes

of Venezuelan crude currently navigating to U.S. ports or about

to depart from Venezuela through the end of the month.

Maduro and his government have always rejected sanctions by

the United States and others, saying they are illegitimate

measures that amount to an "economic war" designed to cripple

Venezuela.

Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the

country's resilience despite the measures, though they have

historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on

sanctions.

When the license was first issued, Chevron ( CVX ) was owed about $3

billion by Venezuela. According to the company's debt recovery

plan, explained by sources, by the end of 2024 it should have

recouped some $1.7 billion as oil output approached an average

of 200,000 barrels per day as expected.