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ARTICLE · 26 MARCH 2026

OFAC Issues New General Licenses Authorizing Broad PdVSA Transactions

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On March 18 and 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two new Venezuela-related general licenses: General License No. 52 (GL 52), authorizing most previously prohibited transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) and General License No. 5V (GL 5V), authorizing further transactions related to the PdVSA 2020 8.5 Percent Bond issued on or after May 5, 2026

United StatesInternational Law
Jeremy Iloulian
Jeremy Iloulian
Heather Sanborn
Heather Sanborn
Dmitry Bergoltsev
Dmitry Bergoltsev

On March 18 and 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two new Venezuela-related general licenses: General License No. 52 (GL 52), authorizing most previously prohibited transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA)  and General License No. 5V (GL 5V), authorizing further transactions related to the PdVSA 2020 8.5 Percent Bond issued on or after May 5, 2026.

Background: In 2018, OFAC imposed debt-related sanctions on PdVSA – Venezuela’s state-run oil company, which OFAC supplemented on January 28, 2019 by designating PdVSA on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List). Then, on August 5, 2019, OFAC’s imposition of asset-freezing sanctions on the Government of Venezuela, PdVSA’s parent entity, resulted in a third set of sanctions applying to PdVSA.

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