Washington The United States has revised three Venezuela-related sanctions licences to explicitly include methanol among the petrochemical products covered by certain authorised oil trade, supply and investment activities. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended General Licences 46E, 48D and 49B, replacing earlier versions of the licences. The changes specifically add methanol to the chemical annexes while leaving the main permissions and restrictions largely unchanged. General Licence 46E authorises certain transactions involving Venezuelan-origin oil and petrochemical products for import into the United States. The licence covers activities including transportation, sale, storage and refining, subject to specified conditions. General Licence 48D permits US persons and US entities to supply certain goods, technology, software and services for Venezuela’s oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. It also covers specified activities involving electricity generation, transmission, storage and distribution, as well as maintenance and repair of existing operations. General Licence 49B allows negotiations and the signing of contingent contracts related to certain new oil, gas, petrochemical and electricity projects in Venezuela. Actual implementation of such contracts requires separate authorisation under the terms of the licence. OFAC’s revised documents list methanol under five tariff classifications. Methanol has been added alongside products such as ammonia, urea, phosphates, sulphur and other fertiliser-related chemicals. The revisions do not represent a broad lifting of US sanctions on Venezuela. They do not announce any specific methanol shipment or investment, nor do they establish the volume or value of potential trade under the amended licences. The licences continue to contain restrictions involving certain sanctioned individuals, entities and vessels, as well as parties connected with countries including Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and China. Methanol is an industrial chemical used in the production of various chemicals and can also be used as a fuel or fuel component. The latest US measures therefore clarify that certain authorised activities involving Venezuela’s petrochemical sector can include methanol under the specified licence conditions. The changes form part of Washington’s broader adjustments to its Venezuela sanctions framework and provide greater clarity on the products covered by specific authorised activities.