In response to the pressure of rising energy and other commodity prices due to the escalation of the situation in Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a document on March 13, further conditionally easing restrictions on transactions related to Venezuela's oil, gas, and other energy sectors.

On the same day, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the U.S. Treasury Department released three general license documents, conditionally allowing U.S. entities to engage in transactions related to Venezuelan petroleum or petrochemical products, provide goods and services to Venezuela for the development or production of oil, gas, and petrochemical products, and negotiate or sign contracts with Venezuela in the fields of oil, gas, petrochemicals, or electricity.

Reuters and other media outlets quoted a U.S. Treasury official as saying that this authorization expands the scope of U.S. investment and activities in Venezuela's energy sector and allows Venezuela to directly export fertilizers to the United States.

On January 3 of this year, the U.S. military launched a large-scale military strike against Venezuela, forcibly taking control of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and bringing them to the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the United States would "manage" Venezuela until a "safe" transition is implemented, and that major U.S. oil companies would enter Venezuela for investment. At the end of January, the U.S. government lifted restrictions on some activities related to Venezuelan oil transactions. (Liu Yanan)