MADRID (Reuters) -Spain didn’t import crude oil from Venezuela in April, ahead of a key sanctions deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Spain’s largest oil company Repsol is among foreign firms operating in Venezuela whose permits to export oil from the country were revoked by the United States. Repsol was given a May 27 deadline to wind down its operations there.
Under that permit, Repsol received oil from state oil company PDVSA as payment for debt.
The lack of imports in April followed sharp increases in 2024 and earlier this year, according to data released on Friday by Cores, an arm of Spain’s energy and environment ministry.
Repsol has held talks with U.S. authorities seeking ways to keep operating in Venezuela. Earlier this week, Chief Executive Josu Jon Imaz met with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The cancellations of licences came after Trump issued an executive order in March, declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela would pay a 25% tariff on trades with the United States.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government have rejected sanctions by the United States and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple the country.
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Edwina Gibbs)
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