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Repsol will be protected by the government, says Spain's foreign minister

Repsol will be protected by the government, says Spain's foreign minister

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced on Monday that his government will defend the interests the Spanish oil company Repsol, after sources close to U.S. president Donald Trump claimed his government would revoke licenses granted to oil firms operating in Venezuela.

Albares told Tele 5 that he had spoken to the CEO of Repsol and they were discussing and analysing their decision.

He said: "We shouldn't rush until we have all the information about this decision. We need to know what it means, how it will affect us and the room for dialogue that exists in order to resolve the issue.

Maurel et Prom, a French oil company, and Eni, an Italian one from Italy said that they received notification from the U.S. Government on the weekend that their respective licenses for operating in Venezuela had been revoked.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration granted individual companies authorizations in recent years to procure Venezuelan oil from refineries located anywhere between Spain and India, as an exception to the U.S. sanctions regime against the South American nation.

Sources close to the decision said that Trump's administration informed the companies last week it would revoke the authorisations.

Reliance Industries in India and U.S. Global Oil Terminals are also among the companies who have received comfort letters and licenses from Washington. Global Oil Terminals. Reporting by Inti landauro, Editing by Alison Williams, and Ros Russell

(source: Reuters)