OFAC extends the earthquake-relief license through April 2027
OFAC today issued General License 60A, which replaces GL 60 with the same text and moves its expiration from October 23, 2026 to April 21, 2027, at 12:01 a.m. eastern time. Anyone routing relief funds through U.S. banks keeps the same legal basis for six more months, with no gap and the same scope: it still does not unblock property or cover what other executive orders prohibit. FAQ 1263, updated today, keeps relief-related payments to the state out of the Treasury custody account. The October 23 expiry has been removed from this edition's Outlook.
Source ↗- PETRÓLEO
Merey averaged $93.75 in September and cut its discount to Brent to $8.27, according to OPEC.
Descuento: sep 8,27 · ago 11,26 · jul 16,61 · producción comunicada a la OPEP: +5.000 b/d
affects the treasury, PDVSA and buyers of heavy crude
- DEUDA
The Third Circuit refused to postpone argument on the sale of Citgo and kept it for Wednesday the 21st, with 30 minutes per side.
Alegatos: 21-oct, 11:30 ET · oferta de Amber: US$5.900 M · pausa pedida por Venezuela: 6 meses, sin conceder
affects creditors of the Republic and PDVSA, and Amber Energy
- AVIACIÓN
ITA Airways will fly Rome–Caracas three times a week from March 30, 2027, after signing a memorandum with Venezuela.
3 vuelos semanales · Airbus A330-900 · arranque: marzo de 2027 · ruta anterior: Alitalia, hasta 2015
affects companies doing business between Italy and Venezuela
With output nearly flat, September's oil revenue moved on price: OPEC recorded barely 5,000 more barrels a day through direct communication, and each barrel of Merey was worth $16.93 more than in August. That money does not go straight to Caracas: under License 46E, what is paid to PDVSA goes into the account held by the US Treasury. The question is how much of that improvement the government treats as permanent. The 2027 budget reached the National Assembly on October 14 with no public figures; the oil price it assumes will show whether it is planning on September's discount or July's.
Merey averaged $93.75 a barrel in September and Brent $102.02, according to OPEC's report of Tuesday the 13th: the gap was $8.27, against $16.61 in July.
OPEC's monthly report published on Tuesday the 13th records a September average of $93.75 a barrel for Merey, the heavy Venezuelan crude in the organization's basket, $16.93 more than in August. Brent, the ICE front-month contract, averaged $102.02. The gap between them came to $8.27 a barrel; in the previous reports it had been $11.26 for August and $16.61 for July.
OPEP ↗Merey sep: US$93,75 (+16,93) · ICE Brent sep: US$102,02 · descuento: jul 16,61 → ago 11,26 → sep 8,27 · Omán sep: US$114,53 · banda del Data Hub: Brent −8 a −14The OPEC basket rose $24.15 in September, a gain the organization attributes to geopolitical tensions and disruptions to regional crude flows. Oman crude, the benchmark for Middle East sour grades, averaged $114.53, above Brent. As early as August OPEC described concern over the supply of sour crudes and strong demand for them. Merey, a heavy sour crude, rose $16.93 in the month; Brent, $13.94.
The Venezuelan state's oil revenue, which is paid for each barrel ever closer to the price of Brent.
Refiners that buy heavy Venezuelan crude, such as those on the US Gulf Coast, against a benchmark that is moving closer to Brent.
INDICADORMerey's average price in October and its gap to Brent, in OPEC's monthly report. · Informe mensual de la OPEP de noviembre de 2026.
On Thursday the 15th the Third Circuit denied the motions to postpone argument on the sale of Citgo and expanded the time to 30 minutes per side. The hearing stays on Wednesday the 21st in Philadelphia.
In an 8:00 ET order on Thursday the 15th, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motions to continue the argument date and PDVSA's motion to supplement the record, in the appeal against the sale of PDV Holding, Citgo's parent, to Amber Energy. In a separate order it expanded the time to 30 minutes per side. The hearing stays on Wednesday the 21st at 11:30 ET in Philadelphia. Venezuela had asked on October 1 to freeze the appeal for six months; neither order names that request.
Tercer Circuito ↗Orden 307: aplazamiento y ampliación del expediente, denegados · orden 306: 30 min por parte · alegatos: 21-oct, 11:30 ET · oferta de Amber: US$5.900 M · financiamiento de Amber: abr-2027The pause was Venezuela's route to bring Citgo into its debt restructuring: freeze the case for six months, with periodic reports. Gold Reserve backed it only with Washington's support, and the Justice Department answered on Tuesday the 13th that it has no view. With the date standing, the $5.9 billion sale to Amber depends on what the judges decide after hearing the parties and on the OFAC license: Amber closes seven days after receiving it.
Amber Energy and the creditors opposing the pause, such as Crystallex and ConocoPhillips: the appeal reaches argument on schedule and with more time to present.
The Republic and PDVSA: they reach October 21 without the pause granted, and PDVSA without the material it wanted to add to the record.
INDICADORThe Third Circuit's decision after argument: affirm the sale, vacate it or freeze the case. · Alegatos el miércoles 21 de octubre de 2026, 11:30 ET; el fallo no tiene fecha.
ITA Airways and Venezuela signed a memorandum in Rome on Tuesday the 13th to fly between Fiumicino and Maiquetía from March 30, 2027, three times a week.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced on Tuesday the 13th the signing of a memorandum of understanding with ITA Airways to restore direct passenger and cargo flights between Caracas and Rome from March 30, 2027. It was signed in Rome by the airline’s chief executive, Joerg Eberhart, and Venezuela’s ambassador to Italy, María Elena Uzzo. ITA will fly three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with an Airbus A330-900.
Presidencia de Venezuela — vía AVN ↗Firma: 13-oct, Roma · inicio: 30-mar-2027 · frecuencias: 3 por semana (mar, jue, dom) · avión: A330-900 · plan original: oct-2026, corrido tras los sismos · ruta anterior: Alitalia, hasta jun-2015ITA, part of the Lufthansa group, had planned to start in October 2026 and pushed the date back after the June earthquakes damaged Maiquetía, according to industry outlets. The memorandum turns that plan into a date with an aircraft and frequencies. Alitalia flew the route until June 2015, according to Eberhart himself, and the airline is targeting business travelers, tourists and the Italian-Venezuelan community.
Italian companies operating in Venezuela and the Italian-Venezuelan community, which will have a direct flight to Rome from March.
The airlines that now carry traffic between Italy and Venezuela with a stopover, which will compete with a direct flight from March 2027.
INDICADORThe start of ticket sales for Rome–Caracas, with schedules and fares published by ITA. · Antes del 30 de marzo de 2027; primer corte de seguimiento el 13 de noviembre de 2026.
Volume of fertilizer exported by Pequiven, the Venezuelan state petrochemical company, to the United States through XTS Commodities, a subsidiary of Xtellus Partners, according to the US embassy's message signed by chargé d'affaires John Barrett.
The US embassy in Caracas said on Thursday the 15th that the export of 30,000 tonnes of Pequiven fertilizer to the United States, through XTS Commodities, had been completed. It is not the first: in June a cargo of Fertinitro urea left for New Orleans, the first in eight years. Since March 13, OFAC's General License 46 has covered fertilizers, and its current version, 46E, requires that any payment to a blocked entity be deposited in the funds of Executive Order 14373. The embassy did not cite the license; if the sale is made under it, the state petrochemical company's payment follows the same route as oil's.
The question for next week is how much of Venezuela's economic agenda is settled outside the country. Chile's consulate reopening and the Citgo argument in Philadelphia have dates and depend on others. In Caracas, the National Assembly moves at its own pace on two items without a date: the civil-society list for the committee that will nominate Supreme Court justices, and the power reform it took off its agenda for Thursday the 15th.
- →Lunes 19 de octubre — Chile reopens its consulates in Caracas and Puerto Ordaz — Santiago presents it as a step toward full normalization of relations; services expand on October 26
- →Miércoles 21 de octubre, 11:30 ET, Filadelfia — Third Circuit oral argument on the sale of Citgo, with 30 minutes per side — after hearing the parties, the court decides whether the sale awaits only the OFAC license
- →The Preliminary Commission takes to the National Assembly floor the list of 12 civilians for the Judicial Nominations Committee — that committee opens the stage that, according to Washington, is meant to end with 32 new justices in December
HOW OUR CALLS ARE DOING
indicators we issued in earlier editionsOn October 9 we set a watch on the second reading of the power reform that opens the grid to private companies, against the year-end deadline the acting president set.
The National Assembly's proposed agenda for the Thursday the 15th session included the second reading of the reform. The agenda the state news agency AVN published that morning no longer had it: it listed two bills approving international agreements and one diplomatic appointment.