The US could allow oil companies, Eni and Repsol, to ship Venezuelan oil to Europe starting next month, Reuters reports. This means that Italy’s Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA will start shipping oil from Venezuela to Europe as soon as July this year. The US Department of State has greenlighted the resumption of shipments to make up for Russian crude imports. After massive anti-Russian sanctions had been imposed, European countries began to gradually reduce energy imports from Russia. According to Reuters, crude volumes shipped by Eni and Repsol are not expected to be large, so their impact on oil prices will be modest. The main condition is that oil should be directly transported to Europe. The Biden administration hopes that this step will help Europe slash its dependence on Russian oil. Washington also hopes to resume talks with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez hopes that the US will completely lift all sanctions imposed on the country. Earlier, the US officials eased some restrictions that were limiting the operation of US and European oil companies in Venezuela. In May, the US Treasury Department and the Department of State gave permission to US oil company Chevron to start negotiations with the Venezuelan government about its future operation in the country. For your reference, joint oil production was put on halt in 2019 following sanctions imposed by the US.
