13:21 - 12.02.2019

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February 12, Fineko/abc.az. French oil company Total hopes to keep its presence in Venezuela, despite the sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the country.

The statement was made by Corporation’s head Patrick Puyanne on the sidelines of the energy forum in Cairo, Reuters reports.

"First, we must understand what sanctions are. We’ll make an assessment, but I think we’ll be able to stay - perhaps some conditions will be offered for our stay here," Mr. Puyanne said.

Amid the political crisis in Venezuela, the U.S. tightened sanctions against the country - national oil company PDVSA got under restrictions at the end of January. Among the PDVSA partners are Total, Norway’s Equinor (formerly Statoil), and US’ Chevron. PDVSA has ordered that its company operating jointly with Total and Equinor would suspend work. Washington also stated about freezing of Company's assets for $7 bn. U.S. ready to ease sanctions only if control over the company passes to Venezuelan opposition’s leader Juan Guido, who declared himself acting president of the country.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury promised to start issuing temporary licenses that permit "some transactions" of the oil and gas company. In addition, the US subsidiary of PDVSA-owned Citgo Petroleum will be able to continue its work, provided that the money received by it remain on the accounts blocked in the U.S.