Établissements Maurel & Prom (M&P), which is majority owned by Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, announced that it has received a notification from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) dated 28 March 2025, informing M&P that the specific license granted in May 2024 for its activities in Venezuela has been revoked.
In connection with this decision, OFAC has issued a wind-down license authorising M&P to undertake transactions necessary to conclude operations previously covered under the now-revoked license. This wind-down period is valid until 27 May 2025.
“M&P is currently assessing the implications of this decision in close consultation with its legal advisors. The Group remains actively engaged with U.S. authorities and continues to monitor the situation as it develops,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
“It is M&P’s understanding that this action is part of a broader initiative by OFAC affecting both U.S. and international oil companies operating in Venezuela under similar authorisations, pending a possible agreement between the U.S. and Venezuela as the situation continues to evolve.”
M&P is majority owned by PT Pertamina Internasional Eksplorasi dan Produksi (PIEP), a subsidiary of PT Pertamina. M&P 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.
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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Spanish oil company Repsol was also notified that its licence had been revoked, it said on Monday, prompting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares to say that his government would defend the interests of the firm.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"Those transnational companies whose license was revoked by the U.S. government at the request of failed Venezuelan extremists are welcome to continue to participate in production in a win-win scheme of contracts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, as quoted by Reuters.
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.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
