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
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
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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.