The United States is authorizing the sale of oil and gas to Cuba, provided companies ensure the fuel will go to citizens and businesses in the private sector, the Treasury Department announced on Wednesday. “Gas and other petroleum products exported and reexported to entities or persons in the Cuban private sector for personal use may be authorized under the SCP License Exception,” the Treasury Department’s explanatory note said.
After the fall of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military incursion, Washington announced sanctions targeting countries or companies that sought to export oil to Cuba, pushing Havana into a critical situation. The Castro regime, already mired in a severe economic crisis, said it was willing to negotiate and, in parallel, eased internal measures to allow oil imports.
For the first time in nearly 70 years, the communist island authorized the import of fuel through private channels. The Treasury Department and the Commerce Department are now clarifying, in response to questions from “potential exporters,” what conditions are permitted.
“To be authorized, exports must be both for use by the Cuban private sector and for activities of the private economic sector, including humanitarian needs,” the text explains. The United States used a novel formula a few weeks ago, when it announced urgent humanitarian aid, such as medicines and food, in response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa.
The State Department announced millions of dollars in aid for the Cuban people but routed through the Catholic Church. “Exporters and re exporters have a responsibility to review the current guidance from the Department of Commerce,” warns the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The note clarifies that the oil and gas will depart from the United States, even if the original source is Venezuela. President Donald Trump warned after the blow dealt to Caracas that he would control the destination of Venezuelan crude. That oil, he explained, would be sold on the market at international prices, with U.S. companies given priority.
Trump initially said that between 30 and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude would be shipped to the United States, and that the proceeds would then be sent to Caracas under strict conditions. The president said Tuesday, in his State of the Union address, that the amount of oil received from Venezuela’s “new friend and partner” is actually 80 million barrels.
