On April 17, 2024, Oil Price Network reported that the Biden administration may be preparing to reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro violated the conditions of existing temporary sanctions relief in an attempt to suppress opposition before this year's elections. On Wednesday, the Biden administration stated that sanctions may be reimposed after the six-month interim agreement expires on Thursday.
The elections in Venezuela are scheduled for July 28th, and Maduro tirelessly banned opposition candidates, using fabricated criminal charges to prevent them from voting, and arrested many opposition figures suspected of plotting a coup.
Although the Biden administration has been following a strategy of re engaging with Venezuela, certain conditions must be met in order to continue lifting sanctions.
An anonymous Bloomberg source also stated that if Venezuela fails to appease the Biden administration, Washington plans to have the sanctions lifted expire at midnight on Thursday.
Bloomberg sources believe that if the Venezuelan government extends the registration deadline for candidates participating in the July elections, or if the opposition chooses Governor Manuel Rosales as the only opposition figure willing to negotiate directly with Maduro, which reduces his appeal among the opposition, then sanctions may continue.
Last week, the United States held secret meetings, but the results of these talks have not yet been reflected in concrete actions.
According to Reuters, sanctions are about to expire as Venezuela and Chevron enter into new negotiations to expand their joint venture with state-owned PDVSA in the Orinoco River basin.
Since the lifting of sanctions in October 2023, Venezuela has been pursuing a strategy of expanding oil production from below 800000 barrels per day to over 1 million barrels per day, although these ambitious goals cannot be achieved if sanctions are allowed to expire.
The relaxation of sanctions has helped Venezuela increase its oil export revenue. According to Reuters' estimate in January, this year's expected revenue is $20 billion, while last year's total oil revenue was $12 billion.
