OFAC Amends Venezuela Sanctions Licenses Across Key Sectors

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended eight Venezuela-related General Licenses, updating the scope of activities that may be authorized under the U.S. Venezuela sanctions program.

Published on August 27, 2026, the amendments cover activities involving oil and petrochemical products, U.S.-origin diluents, oil and gas operations, minerals including gold, telecommunications, and transactions involving Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

OFAC amended General License 46D, covering certain activities involving Venezuelan-origin oil and petrochemical products, and General License 47B, concerning the sale of U.S.-origin diluents to Venezuela. General License 48C was also amended to address the supply of certain items and services to Venezuela, while General License 50C covers certain oil and gas sector operations involving specified entities.

The changes also affect Venezuela’s minerals sector. General License 51C addresses certain activities involving Venezuelan-origin minerals, including gold, while General License 54B covers the supply of certain items and services for minerals operations. OFAC additionally amended General License 52B, which authorizes certain transactions involving PDVSA.

For the telecommunications sector, General License 61A addresses the supply of certain items and services to Venezuela.

OFAC also issued FAQs 1267 and 1268, amended FAQs 1233 and 1244, and archived FAQ 1260, providing additional context for interpreting the updated authorizations.

Key takeaways for compliance professionals:

1. Current sanctions data is essential: The amendments demonstrate that sanctions compliance extends beyond screening names against sanctions lists. Firms must also assess whether current OFAC licenses authorize specific activities.
2. Venezuela-related controls should be reviewed: Financial institutions, payment providers, commodity businesses, and other exposed organizations should reassess controls covering oil, gas, minerals, gold, telecommunications, and PDVSA-related transactions.
3. Licensing can affect alert decisions: Compliance analysts should consider applicable General Licenses when reviewing potential sanctions alerts. A transaction involving a restricted party or sector does not automatically constitute a violation if an applicable authorization permits the activity.

What this means for AML and sanctions compliance

The latest amendments highlight the operational complexity of sanctions compliance. Organizations must combine accurate party and transaction screening with current regulatory intelligence to determine whether specific Venezuela-related activity is permitted.

For firms with exposure to Venezuela, the changes provide a clear reason to review sanctions-screening rules, transaction-monitoring scenarios, alert-investigation procedures, and internal guidance against the latest OFAC requirements.

Importantly, the action does not introduce new Venezuela sanctions designations. Instead, it modifies existing General Licenses and related guidance, making current licensing information critical when assessing the permissibility of Venezuela-related transactions.