WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday it will take a more permissive approach to license requests that would allow companies to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba for use on the island. The shift, spelled out in new sanctions guidance, is meant to ease Cuba’s fuel crunch while keeping transactions tied to the Cuban government and military off-limits, Feb. 25, 2026.
The policy change is outlined in Office of Foreign Assets Control FAQ 1238, which says Treasury will apply a “favorable licensing policy” to specific applications involving Venezuelan oil headed to Cuba. The same guidance points applicants to conditions in Venezuela General License 46A and warns that deals involving Cuba’s military, intelligence services or other restricted institutions will not qualify.
The FAQ also says applicants do not necessarily need to be an “established U.S. entity” under GL 46A and that the general license’s Cuba-related limitations would not apply under Treasury’s favorable case-by-case review.
The guidance offers a clearer pathway for energy traders, but the decision does not create an automatic blanket authorization. Companies still must apply for a specific license, document end-use and counterparties, and show that the fuel will support the Cuban people — particularly the private sector — rather than state-controlled distribution.
How the new policy handles Venezuelan oil headed to Cuba
Treasury’s approach effectively creates a narrow corridor for Venezuela’s crude to reach Cuba under U.S. oversight. Officials say licenses are more likely to be approved when applicants can demonstrate three things:
- Private-sector or humanitarian use in Cuba: The crude and related petroleum products must be destined for commercial activity that supports households and independent businesses, not for government-run supply chains.
- No benefit to restricted Cuban entities: Transactions cannot involve, or be for the benefit of, organizations linked to Cuba’s military or security services, including entities listed on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List.
- Compliance with broader Venezuela sanctions terms: Treasury says license requests should be consistent with the terms and conditions in Venezuela General License 46A, which governs certain transactions involving Venezuelan crude and sets guardrails around contracting and payments.
Treasury also reminded exporters that the U.S. Commerce Department — not Treasury — primarily regulates exports and reexports of U.S.-origin oil and other items subject to export rules. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently published guidance on the Support for the Cuban People (SCP) license exception for gas and petroleum products that can, in some circumstances, authorize shipments to eligible Cuban private-sector end users. Treasury noted that U.S.-origin oil exports and other petroleum products authorized by Commerce, including those that fit License Exception SCP, generally do not require a separate OFAC authorization.
That split jurisdiction matters for companies attempting to move crude through third countries or blendstock hubs in the Caribbean. A trader may need to satisfy both export rules and sanctions rules, while also proving that the fuel will not be diverted into Cuba’s state-run distribution network.
Why Venezuela’s oil is back in focus as Cuba searches for fuel
The announcement comes as Cuba faces acute fuel scarcity, with shortages disrupting electricity generation and transportation. The U.S. decision, reported by Reuters, comes after Washington said it took control of Venezuela’s oil exports in early January and Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba stopped, worsening the island’s energy crisis.
Even with a licensing pathway, the economics remain uncertain. Reuters quoted President Donald Trump as saying Venezuela’s allies, including Cuba, must pay fair market prices for cargoes — a stance that raises questions about whether Cuban buyers can secure financing and guarantees. “If they are hungry and they are suffering, it’s not because we’re not prepared to help them,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, arguing the bottleneck is Cuba’s government policies.
For traders, the appeal is practical: large volumes of Venezuelan crude circulate through storage terminals and international trading desks, making resale a feasible option if compliance hurdles can be cleared. For Cuba, even limited access to Venezuelan oil could ease the immediate crunch for private businesses, private aviation operators and other non-state consumers that cannot wait for state imports.
A long-running sanctions story around Venezuela’s oil and Cuba
The U.S. move marks a notable contrast with earlier policy that sought to choke off Venezuela’s oil deliveries to the island. In September 2019, for example, Washington imposed sanctions on maritime firms and vessels involved in transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba amid long lines for gasoline, according to a Reuters report at the time.
Supply pressures later pushed Havana to widen its search for fuel. In April 2023, Reuters reported that Cuba was turning to Russia and Mexico as Venezuela struggled to provide enough usable crude and refined products for its ally.
By mid-2024, with sanctions still shaping shipping patterns, Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA began relying more heavily on third-party tankers operating in the so-called “dark fleet” to keep oil flowing to Cuba, according to another Reuters investigation. The new Treasury licensing posture suggests U.S. officials now see a managed channel for Venezuelan oil as preferable to an opaque, sanctions-evasion network that is harder to monitor.
What comes next for Cuba-bound licenses tied to Venezuelan oil
Companies looking to move Venezuelan oil to Cuba will likely watch for three near-term signals: how quickly Treasury processes applications, what end-use documentation it expects, and how strictly agencies enforce prohibitions on dealings with restricted Cuban entities.
Compliance teams also will need to evaluate practical questions that can determine whether a deal is viable:
- How to verify the end user and prevent diversion of Venezuelan oil into state distribution systems.
- Which banks, insurers and shipping firms are willing to support Cuba-linked trades without triggering sanctions exposure.
- Whether cargo pricing, payment terms and documentation match what U.S. regulators consider commercially reasonable.
For now, the shift is best understood as a conditional opening rather than a broad sanctions rollback. It gives the market a clearer route to move Venezuelan oil to Cuba, but only when companies can show the trade is designed to support ordinary Cubans — not the institutions Washington has long targeted.
