WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will let energy giant Chevron keep its key infrastructure in Venezuela — but is standing firm on barring the Houston-based company from importing oil extracted from Nicolás Maduro’s left-wing dictatorship, The Post has learned.
Chevron previously had until Tuesday to remove all its assets from the South American country after President Trump announced in February he was letting a Biden-era importation license expire.
The new arrangement will allow the company to maintain its roughly $7 billion worth of equipment in Venezuela through a narrowly tailored sanctions waiver, a senior White House official told The Post.
“It will be renegotiated so that Chevron equipment can remain, but no (money) for Maduro, which was the issue,” the person said.
The waiver, first reported over the weekend by Bloomberg, will allow Chevron to perform essential upkeep, but not allow energy exploration, according to multiple sources.
The Post on Friday revealed that Special Envoy to Venezuela Ric Grenell pulled what insiders described as a Hail Mary move to try and save Chevron’s ability to sell Venezuelan oil by negotiating the release of an American detainee to show Trump that Maduro was willing to play ball.
Grenell took a private jet to Antigua May 20 to pick up former American detainee Joe St. Clair — without first informing the State Department or White House, according to multiple sources, with one saying that the envoy “blindsided the president and the White House.”
With Chevron allowed to keep its assets in Venezuela, insiders say Grenell plans to continue lobbying Trump to restore the company’s ability to import the country’s oil to the United States.
The envoy’s plan, according to multiple sources, is to “wait out” Secretary of State Marco Rubio — a staunch critic of Maduro who advised Trump on the waiver — and push the White House to let the oil flow again once the Floridian is no longer serving in the administration.
When asked about Grenell’s purported intention, a source close to the president quipped “That’s a long wait.”
On Friday, Venezuelan authorities arrested dozens of Maduro’s political opponents — including Juan Pablo Guanipa, a top ally of jailed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — following Rubio’s announcement that the Chevron license would indeed expire.
Anticipating his detention, Guanipa declared that he may be “unjustly imprisoned, but never defeated” in a pre-recorded message released by the anti-Maduro camp after his arrest.
“Brothers and sisters, if you are seeing this, it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduro’s regime,” the former first vice president of Venezuela’s parliament said. “For months, I, like many Venezuelans, have been in hiding to maintain my safety.”
“Regrettably, my time in hiding has come to an end. As of today, I am part of the list of Venezuelans kidnapped by the dictatorship.”
On Sunday, Venezuela’s electoral council claimed that Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela had won a landslide victory in parliamentary and regional elections, which had been boycotted by opposition parties.
“Today, we witnessed an event that attempted to disguise itself as an election, but failed to deceive the country or the world,” Edmundo González, who is recognized by the United States and several other countries as the winner of the July 2024 presidential election, posted on X.
“What the world saw today was an act of civic courage. A silent but powerful declaration that the desire for change, dignity, and a future remains intact.”
The White House and State Department have officially remained steadfast that Trump is against continuing Biden’s policy of allowing Chevron to import Venezuelan oil.
Earlier this year, the 47th president evoked all licenses to operate US-based businesses in Venezuela, expressing frustration with Maduro, whose government declared him the winner of last year’s presidential election without releasing vote tallies or otherwise providing proof.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Feb. 26.
“Additionally, the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to,” he added.
On March 24, the president doubled down, issuing an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on any country that imports Venezuelan oil.
However, Grenell claimed last week that Trump does not seek regime change in Caracas and would extend the Chevron license another 60 days following Maduro’s willingness to turn over St. Clair.
Shortly after those comments, Rubio re-confirmed in a post to X that the Chevron license would expire Tuesday.
“This termination executes on the President’s directive and cuts off financial lifelines for a regime that has consistently stolen elections, pillaged from its people, and colluded with our enemies,” the State Department told The Post on May 19.
“We will work to deny any funding the Maduro regime uses to oppress the Venezuelan people. ”
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the limited license.
