US general licence authorises Venezuela PdVSA transactions

19 March 2026

The US has issued General Licence 52, authorising certain transactions involving Venezuela’s state‑owned oil and gas company, PdVSA.

• GL 52 authorises all transactions prohibited by Executive Orders 13884 and 13850 that involve PdVSA or its entities.

• Any contract for such transactions must contain US governing law and dispute resolution clauses.

• Any payments to a US‑sanctioned person, other than for local taxes, permits or fees, must be paid into the Foreign Government Deposit Funds under EO 14373.

• The GL does not authorise transactions prohibited by EO 13808 or EO 13835, the enforcement of judgments or other processes affecting blocked property, dealings with US‑designated persons other than PdVSA, persons linked to Russia, Iran, North Korea or Cuba, or Chinese‑owned or controlled entities in Venezuela or the US. It also excludes non‑commercial payment terms (including debt swaps, gold or Venezuelan government digital currency), the unblocking of blocked property, and any transaction involving a blocked vessel.

• Users of the licence must report within 10 days of the first transaction and every 90 days thereafter while such transactions continue.

OFAC has published two FAQs on GL 52:

• FAQ 1245 says that US‑established entities may enter new investment contracts and form new joint ventures with PdVSA in Venezuela’s oil and gas sectors, and that GL 52 covers all ordinarily incident commercial, legal, technical, safety and environmental activities.

• FAQ 1246 says that GL 52 does not permit the sale of CITGO‑related shares in the Crystallex litigation and that a specific OFAC licence is required for any settlement or enforcement action affecting blocked property.

See our US-Venezuela pages for an overview of US sanctions executive orders relating to Venezuela.