The US ruled out “for now” importing oil from Venezuela

The United States said Monday that “for now” it is not maintaining contacts or implementing any plans to import oil from Venezuela, and confirmed that it spoke with Colombia to increase its supply of crude oil globally.

“It's not something we're actively talking about right now,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at her daily news conference.

Psaki thus answered the question of whether the possibility of the United States easing its oil sanctions on Venezuela in order to import more crude from that country is ruled out, an idea that the White House had put forward to stabilize oil prices.

This possibility aroused criticism from several legislators from both parties in the United States and also concerns from Washington allies such as the president of Colombia, Iván Duque.

After meeting last Thursday with US President Joe Biden, Duque revealed that he had offered Biden the supply of more Colombian oil to stabilize energy prices, as an alternative to Venezuelan crude oil.

Asked about it, Psaki confirmed on Monday that Biden spoke to Duque about this issue in the context of “global energy security” following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but said that he had no further details on any decision on the matter.

“We continue to talk to a number of producers about the importance of maintaining global supply. This is not just about supply in the United States, but about securing supply to the global market, and we appreciate our relationship with Colombia,” the spokeswoman said.

Regarding rumors that the US government has considered granting the oil giant Chevron a special license to import oil from Venezuela, Psaki insisted that “for now” this purchase of Venezuelan crude oil is not under consideration.

On March 5, a high-level US delegation visited the Venezuelan capital and met with dictator Nicolás Maduro, on what the White House claimed was the highest-ranking trip to Caracas in more than two decades.

The visit came in the throes of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an important ally of Venezuela, and rumors that Biden was considering lifting part of the sanctions on the Venezuelan oil sector to contain energy prices.

The White House has not denied that it addressed this issue during the meeting with Maduro, but it has lowered expectations of that possibility after receiving criticism from several influential figures in the US Congress, including Democratic Senator Bob Menendez.

A senior US official, who asked for anonymity, described last week's visit to Caracas as a one-off meeting, assuring that right now “there are no talks with the Maduro regime”.

The United States has insisted that the main issue he spoke about with Maduro was the situation of the ten Americans imprisoned in Venezuela, two of whom were released shortly after the visit.

(With information from EFE)

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