March 19, 2026–Written by Daniel Graeber for IIR Energy Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)–The U.S. on Wednesday eased sanctions on Venezuela to allow U.S. companies to do business there, while glimmers of optimism emerged with the resumption of operations at a facility idled for more than four years that is designed to help deliver heavy crude oil.
With U.S. President Donald Trump under pressure from the economic fallout of the war in the Middle East, the U.S. Treasury Department said state-run Petroleos de Venezuela, better known as PDVSA, could sell Venezuelan crude oil directly to U.S. companies and global importers.
