GL 47: Diluents are the key that unlocks production — and the license nobody is reading
Without naphtha, the extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt does not flow. GL 47 authorizes the sale of U.S.-origin diluents to Venezuela.
Without naphtha, the extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt does not flow. GL 47 authorizes the sale of U.S.-origin diluents to Venezuela — the missing piece to scale production from 1M to 2M bpd. It is the most technical license in the package and the most strategic for actual production volume.
GL 47 is not an extension of GL 46. It is its necessary complement. GL 46/46B authorizes U.S. companies to purchase Venezuelan crude. GL 47 authorizes them to sell the input that makes that crude exportable. Without diluents, Venezuela produces bitumen. With diluents, it produces Merey 16 — a tradeable crude that Gulf of Mexico refineries know how to process. The relationship is chemical, not merely commercial.
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FURTHER READING
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OFAC eligibility in Venezuela: who lends the permit to sign with PDVSA
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GL 46C — Trade in Venezuelan-Origin Oil and Petrochemical Products
Authorizes an established U.S. entity to lift, export, sell, store, transport and refine Venezuelan-origin oil —and to import Venezuelan-origin petrochemical products into the U.S.— in transactions involving the Government of Venezuela and PdVSA, subject to U.S./allied law and forum and Treasury payment routing. Supersedes GL 46B.