Eni, Repsol struggle to recover $6 billion in gas payments from Venezuela, FT reports

European energy companies Eni and Repsol are struggling to recover recover about $6 billion in gas payments from Venezuela and are facing indifference from US officials about the debt, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Eni, Repsol, and the US Treasury did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Italy’s Eni produces gas from the Perla offshore field in Venezuela, a 50-50 joint venture with Repsol, operated by the local company Cardón IV.

Eni and Spain’s Repsol have supplied Venezuela with large quantities of gas and naphtha that is used to dilute the country’s heavy oil for easier transportation, the FT report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

A person familiar with the matter told FT that the Trump Administration’s “America First” policy was impacting European companies, which have sensed a lack of urgency from the White House in resolving their payment problems, the report added.

Eni said in March last year that it was told by the US authorities that it could no longer be repaid for Venezuelan gas through oil supplied by state firm PDVSA, after Washington warned PDVSA’s foreign partners, including Eni, of plans to cancel authorizations allowing Venezuelan oil exports.

Since the US imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, oil swaps have provided ways for companies to receive payment for joint-venture debt, sometimes also securing refined products that PDVSA can distribute domestically.