The Biden administration will ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil in exchange for election reforms.
A senior administration official told reporters Thursday evening that the U.S. would provide limited sanctions relief to Venezuela, primarily its oil and gas sector.
The move comes as a result of an agreement signed by Venezuela’s government and opposition that included allowing international observers to monitor elections.
The Biden official described this agreement as the most viable pathway for competitive elections, the restoration of democracy and an end to a humanitarian crisis in the South American nation.
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The official described the sanctions relief the U.S. will provide as temporary, limited authorizations, primarily in the oil and gas sector. Other sanctions and restrictions the U.S. has put on the country will remain in place, the person said.
They argued that the goal of sanctions is ultimately to result in positive changes.
In 2019, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company as part of an attempt to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to give up power.
Maduro was last reelected in 2018 in a contest that the U.S. described as a sham.
Reports that had surfaced earlier this week indicated that sanctions relief would come. Republicans pushed back on the idea.
“The current administration is turning to genocidal regimes, like Maduro in Venezuela and Iran, in an attempt to bring in more oil, when Biden should put America first and build up our own energy independence,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a written statement this week, discussing a GOP bill to bar oil imports from the country.
However, U.S. oil production recently hit an all-time high.
The easing of oil sanctions, meanwhile, comes as violence rocks the Middle East — adding a degree of uncertainty in the oil market. Oil analysts have said that if Iran is found to be directly involved in a recent attack on Israel, it could raise oil prices.
Miranda Nazzaro contributed.
Updated 8:34 p.m.