MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Monday his government will always defend the interests of the Spanish oil company Repsol after sources close to U.S. President Donald Trump said his government would revoke licences granted to oil companies operating in Venezuela.
“I had contacts with (Repsol’s) CEO, and we are analysing the decision and talking about it,” Albares said in an interview with TV channel Tele 5.
“We should not rush at this moment until we know the details about the decision, what it means and how it could affect and the margin there is for dialogue to solve the issue and resolve the differences or clarify the doubts the U.S. administration may have,” he said.
Oil companies Maurel et Prom from France and Eni from Italy have said during the weekend they were notified by the U.S. government that respective licenses to operate in Venezuela were revoked.
In recent years, former President Joe Biden’s administration had granted authorisations to individual companies to secure Venezuelan oil for refineries from Spain to India as exceptions to the U.S. sanction regime on the South American country.
Last week, Trump’s administration notified the companies it would revoke these authorisations, sources close to the decision told Reuters.
The companies that had received licenses and comfort letters from Washington also include India’s Reliance Industries and U.S. Global Oil Terminals.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro;Editing by Alison Williams and Ros Russell)
