Venezuela's oil minister Tareck El Aissami and top representatives of state-run company PDVSA on Friday signed contracts with US oil firm Chevron Corp (CVX.N) with the aim of reviving the nation's oil output and expanding operations.

In a first, the US granted, last week, permission for Chevron to start pumping oil in Venezuela, a report by Reuters said. 

The report stated that US President Joe Biden authorized Chevron to sign a six-month license eyeing talks between the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition ahead of the elections.

But, in light of the recent decision adopted by OPEC+ to cut oil production, defying the White House's demands, it is likely that this move may be owed to energy security concerns. 

Contracts signed by Venezuela and US-based Chevron Corp. include the PDVSA-Chevron joint ventures Petroboscan and Petropiar, according to officials.

In this way, Petropiar and Petroboscan are authorized by the license mainly to produce and extract oil, and activities related to maintenance, repair, or service; sell, export, or import to the United States, through Chevron; and purchase and import into Venezuela products associated with the above, including diluents, condensates, oil, or natural gas.

"This is an important step towards the right direction, but yet insufficient," said oil minister Tareck El Aissami after the signing ceremony. "We demand the lifting of punishing measures that have hit our industry," he added.

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The US has been depleting its own strategic reserves to manage oil prices that were hit hard by US and EU sanctions against Russia and their failed attempt to pressure OPEC+ into increasing production.

In a previous report by the agency, Reuters said the other day, “Chevron is a minority partner in four oil joint ventures in Venezuela with PDVSA, which have produced this year between 60,000 and 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.”

A formal meeting took place earlier today at PDVSA's Caracas headquarters in the presence of El Aissami, Chevron's President for Venezuela, Javier La Rosa, and PDVSA President, Asdrubal Chavez. 

1/2 He sostenido una exitosa reunión de trabajo con el presidente de Chevron Javier La Rosa; empresa petrolera que el próximo 2023 cumplirá 100 años de operaciones en Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/pWaXI5kdU0

— Tareck El Aissami (@TareckPSUV) November 29, 2022

Chevron has yet to disclose the contents of a pre-agreement with PDVSA it used to acquire authorization from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to resume oil pumping in Venezuela.

OIL MARKET: Washington eases its oil sanctions on Venezuela, allowing Chevron (for the next 6 months) to pump crude in the Latin American nation and export it into the United States. A major shift in the White House policy | #OOTT #Venezuela $CVX 🇻🇪 ⛽️ 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/fM1F6lOtJ2

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) November 26, 2022

According to Reuters, the license granted to Chevron states that it will not pay for the oil exported to the US and will not pay royalties or taxes in a bid to avoid proceeds from sales to the government's coffers, something which is very unlikely since Venezuelan legislation prohibits the latter and mercantile logic makes the first point improbable.

Read more: US eyeing Venezuela for crude without plans for sanction relief