OFAC

Photo of nodding donkey oil well to illustrate Petroleum production in Barinas, Venezuela

The Trump administration on Tuesday authorized U.S. companies to supply Venezuela with equipment, technology, and other support for oil and gas production, issuing a new general license that expands what American firms can do in the country’s energy sector.

Morgan Stanley signage on exterior of entryway.

Two Wall Street firms continued to manage a trust held on behalf of Suleiman Kerimov even after the Russian oligarch was blacklisted under U.S. sanctions in 2018, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands.

The Trump administration placed a U.N. human-rights expert and multiple International Criminal Court officials on a U.S. sanctions blacklist typically reserved for terrorists and major criminals, according to a Reuters investigation.

President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, following Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela leading to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

The Trump administration is preparing to issue a broad Treasury Department license as soon as this week that would allow companies to pump oil in Venezuela, a move aimed at easing U.S. sanctions and jump-starting investment in the country’s decaying energy infrastructure. 

President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, from Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

The Trump administration has granted confidential licenses to two of the world’s largest oil traders, Vitol and Trafigura, to broker sales of Venezuelan crude, despite both firms’ recent brushes with bribery prosecutions tied to oil deals elsewhere, The Washington Post reported.