(Reuters) -French oil group Maurel et Prom said on Monday that the United States had revoked its licence to operate in Venezuela, sending its shares plunging 15% in early trade.
Reuters reported on Saturday citing sources that the Trump administration had notified foreign partners of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA of the imminent cancellation of authorisations that allowed them to export Venezuelan oil and byproducts.
Spanish oil company Repsol was also notified that its licence had been revoked, it said on Monday, prompting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares to say that his government would defend the interests of the firm.
Italy’s Eni confirmed on Sunday that it was also notified by U.S. authorities that it would no longer be allowed to receive oil from PDVSA as payment for gas it produces in Venezuela.
Oil and gas operations in Venezuela were normal on Monday, vice president and oil minister Delcy Rodriguez said in a social media post.
“Those transnational companies whose license was revoked by the U.S. government at the request of failed Venezuelan extremists are welcome to continue to participate in production in a win-win scheme of contracts with national industry,” she said.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration had authorised exceptions to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela to allow individual companies to source Venezuelan oil to feed refineries from Spain to India.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on trades with the United States.
M&P, majority-owned by the government of Indonesia, was granted a licence in May 2024 for its 40% consolidated interest in Venezuelan firm Petroregional del Lago, which operates the Urdaneta Oeste field in Lake Maracaibo.
The company said in a press release that it had received notification of the licence revocation from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) dated March 28 with a wind-down period until May 27.
“M&P is currently assessing the implications of this decision in close consultation with its legal advisers,” it added.
M&P shares were down by 15% in Paris as of 0854 GMT, Repsol was down 1.5% in Madrid while Italy’s Eni was only slightly lower.
India’s Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s largest refining complex, will halt Venezuelan oil imports after the United States announced the 25% tariff on nations buying crude from the South American nation, three sources told Reuters last week.
The Indian conglomerate had obtained approval from U.S. authorities last year and has been importing an average of 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude per month, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk; Editing by Jamie Freed, Milla Nissi, Jason Neely and Mark Porter)
