Daily Compliance Brief — OFAC Expands Venezuela Licensing Across Oil, Minerals and Telecommunications

August 28, 2026

Signal

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) amended eight Venezuela-related general licenses on August 27, 2026. The changes were published in OFAC's Recent Actions update and cover activities involving oil, petrochemicals, minerals, financial transactions, and telecommunications.

OFAC also issued two new Venezuela-related FAQs and amended two existing FAQs, clarifying contractual requirements and the scope of authorized activity under several licenses.

The revisions materially change the conditions under which certain Venezuela-related transactions may proceed, increasing the need for transaction-level assessment rather than relying on static country-level restrictions.

Why it matters

Sanctions teams should review Venezuela controls against the amended licenses and determine whether screening, transaction-review, and escalation rules reflect the updated authorizations.

Legal and compliance functions should validate contractual requirements, particularly dispute-resolution provisions, before approving transactions involving the Venezuelan government or designated counterparties.

Control documentation should distinguish newly authorized activity from transactions that remain prohibited and preserve the basis for each license determination.