PDVSA employees respond to U.S. sanctions

In response to State Department sanctions against Venezuela, oil supply to the US could be affected The Obama administration unilaterally, and in violation of international law, imposed sanctions against the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, this week, accusing the Chavez administration of aiding in developing Iran’s nuclear program. This far-fetched claim was soundly rejected by the South American nation and other allied countries in the region, who have deemed this latest hostility of Washington towards Venezuela as an “act of aggression”. The Chavez government announced it will reserve its right to respond accordingly and is evaluating the effects on its supply of oil to the US.

Venezuelans supporting PDVSA and President Chávez against U.S. Sanctions on May 25 in Caracas

Since 2005, Venezuela has not had any type of oil contract with the US government, nor has it received financing from the US Export-Import Bank, noted Venezuela’s Minister of Energy and Oil, Rafael Ramirez, this week. As such, the scope of the sanctions imposed by Washington against state-owned oil company PDVSA are not clear.

Nonetheless, Ramirez explained that export licenses, which were also included in the unilateral sanctions, are “undefined” until the situation is clarified.

“We have to ask [the US] what the scope of their measure is, because we have only received information from very-low-level authorities. We believe they are making a political point more than an economic one”, he stated.

Additionally, Ramirez said that continuity of oil shipments to the US will be decided according to assessments made by the Venezuelan government. “Curiously, they say we can continue exporting oil to the US in spite of these sanctions, but they are wrong because that is a decision that will be made according to our own terms. They hope to dictate what our response will be, but this is an issue concerning sovereignty”, he explained.

The US government announced sanctions against PDVSA on Tuesday for its relations with Iran, but those sanctions would not disallow the sale of Venezuelan oil to the US. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said that the sanctions would prevent PDVSA from having access to contracts with the US government and financing imports and exports through US institutions.

Source: T/ AVN via Correo del Orinoco