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WASHINGTON — <\/span>U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company<\/a> after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies<\/a> during the Iran war<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Treasury issued a broad authorization allowing Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela S.A, or PDVSA, to directly sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after Washington for years had largely blocked dealings with Venezuela\u2019s government and its oil sector.<\/p>\n Separately, the White House said Trump would waive, for 60 days, Jones Act requirements<\/a> for goods shipped between U.S. ports to be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels. The 1920s law, designed to protect the American shipbuilding sector, is often blamed for making gas more expensive.<\/p>\n The moves highlight the increased pressure that the Republican administration is under to ease soaring oil prices<\/a> as the United States, along with Israel, wages a war with Iran without a foreseeable end date. Global oil prices have since spiked as Iran<\/a> halted traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, where one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil typically passes through from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.<\/p>\n The Treasury’s license is designed to incentivize new investment in Venezuela\u2019s energy sector and is intended to benefit both the U.S and Venezuela, while increasing the global oil supply, a Treasury official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke one condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Since the ouster and arrest of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro as Venezuela’s president during a U.S. military operation<\/a> in January, President Donald Trump<\/a> has said the U.S. would effectively \u201crun\u201d Venezuela and sell its oil.<\/p>\n The U.S. license provides targeted relief from sanctions, but does not lift the penalties altogether. The license allows companies that existed before Jan. 29, 2025, to buy Venezuelan oil and engage in transactions that would normally be banned under American sanctions, reopening trade for a major oil producer to global markets. <\/p>\n There are some limits. <\/p>\n Payments cannot go directly to sanctioned Venezuelan entities such as PDVSA, but must be sent instead to a special U.S.-controlled account. In other words, the U.S. will allow the oil trade but will control the cash flow. <\/p>\n Additionally, deals involving Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and some Chinese entities will not be allowed. Transactions involving Venezuelan debt or bonds will not be allowed. <\/p>\n The license is expected to give a massive boost to Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and help encourage companies that have been apprehensive to invest<\/a>. The decision is part of the Trump administration\u2019s phased-in plan to turn around Venezuela. But critics of the acting<\/a> Venezuelan government argue that the move rewards Venezuela\u2019s leadership -\u2013 all loyal to Maduro and the ruling party -\u2013 while repression, corruption and human rights abuses continue.<\/p>\n Many public sector workers survive on roughly $160 per month, while the average private sector employee earned about $237 last year, when the annual inflation rate soared to 475%, according to Venezuela\u2019s central bank, and sent the cost of food beyond what many can afford.<\/p>\n Venezuela sits atop the world\u2019s largest oil reserves and used them to power what was once Latin America\u2019s strongest economy. But corruption, mismanagement and U.S. economic sanctions saw production steadily decline from the 3.5 million barrels per day pumped in 1999, when Maduro\u2019s mentor, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>, took power, to less than 400,000 barrels per day in 2020. <\/p>\n A year earlier, the Treasury Department under the first Trump administration locked Venezuela out of world oil markets when it sanctioned PDVSA as part of a policy punishing Maduro\u2019s government for corrupt, anti-democratic and criminal activities. That forced the government to sell its remaining oil output at a discount \u2014 about 40% below market prices \u2014 to buyers such as China and in other Asian markets. Venezuela even started accepting payments in Russian rubles<\/a>, bartered goods or cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n The new license does not allow payments in gold or cryptocurrency, including the petro, which was a crypto token issued by the Venezuelan government in 2018.<\/p>\n Meantime, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Jones Act waiver would help \u201cmitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market\u201d during the Iran war and would \u201callow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n