GL 46B: The license that makes the U.S. the sole authorized buyer of Venezuelan oil and petrochemicals
GL 46B does not merely authorize Venezuelan crude trading. The March 13 version expanded its scope to petrochemical products, fertilizers, and derivatives.
GL 46B does not merely authorize Venezuelan crude trading. The March 13 revision expanded its scope to include petrochemical products, fertilizers, and derivatives. For the market: OFAC has effectively redefined Venezuela's exportable value chain in a single document.
GL 46B is not GL 46 renamed. It is a material expansion of tradeable scope. The original January 2026 version covered only crude and petroleum products. The March update broadened the definition of "petroleum of Venezuelan origin" to include petrochemical products, fertilizers, and chemical precursors listed in a specific annex. Urea, anhydrous ammonia, ammonium nitrate, superphosphates, and ammonium sulfate now fall under the GL 46B umbrella. For a country with installed petrochemical capacity at Jose and Moron, this is far from marginal.
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FURTHER READING
04The law governing a contract with PDVSA stops being decided in Washington
Since January the U.S. permit required that contract to be drafted under the law of a U.S. state. Eight licenses rewritten yesterday strike the requirement and leave standing only the seat where a dispute is fought: the United States, the United Kingdom, France or Singapore.
OFAC licenses in Venezuela: contracts with PDVSA no longer need U.S. governing law
The requirement arrived in January, loosened in June and vanishes today from eight licenses at once. What did not move in those seven months: the seat of disputes, the routing of payments through the Treasury, and the same six oil companies cleared to operate.
Venezuela Upstream July 2026: LOH Regulation drops PDVSA (Gaceta 7,052), Repsol signs Horcón MoU, OFAC amends GL 46C-54A, Brent normalizes to $81
The first comprehensive Hydrocarbons Law regulation since 1943 opens upstream to privates without a mandatory joint venture; the VE Score eases from 94 to 84 on Brent's correction (May $104 → July $81), not regulatory deterioration.
GL 48C — Supply of Goods and Services to Venezuela
Authorizes the supply from the U.S. or by a U.S. person of goods, technology, software or services for oil, gas and petrochemical exploration, development and production, and for electricity generation, transmission, storage and distribution in Venezuela. As of August 27, 2026, the contract must only route disputes to the U.S., U.K., France, or Singapore. Supersedes GL 48B.