On January 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License No. 46 under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations (VSR), 31 CFR Part 591 to authorize certain commercial activities involving Venezuelan-origin oil that would otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions.
The license authorizes all transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the lifting, exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, marketing, purchase, delivery, transportation, and refining of Venezuelan-origin oil by an established U.S. entity, subject to specific conditions. These permitted activities expressly include logistics, shipping, marine insurance, and associated port and terminal services.
Key conditions include contractual requirements specifying that U.S. law must govern contracts and dispute resolution, and that payments to blocked persons must be deposited into designated accounts as directed by the Treasury.
Importantly, General License No. 46 does not authorize:
- payment terms that are not commercially reasonable or involve non-traditional currencies such as digital tokens;
- transactions involving persons or entities located in certain countries subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions (including Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba);
- transactions involving blocked vessels or entities controlled by parties in those jurisdictions; and
- unblocking of previously blocked property.
The license also requires reporting to U.S. government contacts for transactions involving Venezuelan-origin oil destined for non-U.S. markets. General License No. 46 reflects a targeted shift in U.S. sanctions policy to enable commercially necessary oil sector activity under tightly defined legal and compliance conditions, while maintaining core sanctions objectives.
Official legal reference of General License No. 46: