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The United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market

On 28 January 2019 the US Treasury designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. under OFAC, restricting US persons from dealing with the state oil company. His oil-sector management sat as parent weather beside the 2016 pre-sanctions contraction. In the causal graph this event strengthens Sanctions Pressure, a driver that strengthens Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 28 January 2019 the US Treasury designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. under OFAC, restricting US persons from dealing with the state oil company. Maduro did not write the OFAC notice. His oil-sector management sat as parent weather beside the 2016 pre-sanctions contraction. Store complex.

Context

Guaidó 23 January sat as parent diplomatic weather. Neighbouring 2016 GDP leak is the pre-oil-sanctions parent collapse. He did not sit as OFAC.

2016 GDP leak is the parent pre-sanctions collapse. Chevron 2022 is a later licence child.

The President of Venezuela heads the national executive, commands FANB as commander-in-chief, appoints the cabinet, and can request enabling laws. He does not write an OFAC designation, an ICC Pre-Trial Chamber decision, or a Colombian migration statute. A CNE announcement is not an opposition acta and is not a Carter Center finding. Those three statuses stay on separate rows. An ICC investigation is not a conviction. An IMF figure is labelled as an estimate where BCV stopped publishing. Sanctions after 2017 and 2019 are an external causal factor; they do not erase the pre-2017 PDVSA-and-policy collapse.

Why it matters

The path is sanctions pressure and energy security: a completed external oil-company designation, remaining pre-2017 PDVSA collapse named as parent.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Nicolás Maduro

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.35 · verified

    Treasury designated. He owned PDVSA’s political management. 2017 financial sanctions sat as earlier external weather. Pre-2017 policy collapse remains a parent.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactThe United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market
    2. strengthensDriverSanctions Pressure
    3. strengthensIndicators (4)Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)
    Mixed path

    impact weight 0.8 · Effect from 28 January 2019 · verified

    A completed OFAC PDVSA designation is a dated external oil-sanctions instrument.

    All indicators on this path (4)
    1. FactThe United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market
    2. weakensDriverEnergy Security
    3. strengthensIndicators (4)Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)
    Mixed path

    impact weight 0.6 · Effect from 28 January 2019 · verified

    Cutting the US outlet for PDVSA barrels is a dated energy-export contraction, remaining pre-2017 decline named.

    • Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.37 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.62)

      Observed

      10.4% · 10.2 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 11.1% to 10.4%.

      Above normal = worse

    • Inability to keep home adequately warm

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.36 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.6)

      Observed

      7.97% of population aged 16 years or over · 5.2 above the normal line (2025)

      Worse than normal

      8 readings, 2018–2025: rose from 7.77% of population aged 16 years or over to 7.97% of population aged 16 years or over.

      Above normal = worse

    • Access to electricity (share of world population)

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.3 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.5)

      Observed

      91.6% of population · 8.4 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      4 readings, 2020–2023: rose from 90.4% of population to 91.6% of population.

      Above normal = better

    All indicators on this path (4)

    • Life expectancy at birth

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.29 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.48)

      Observed

      80 Years · 2.3 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 79.5 Years to 80 Years.

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Reuters — US imposes sanctions on Venezuela’s PDVSAReuters · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.US Treasury — OFAC designation of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., 28 January 2019U.S. Department of the Treasury · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

U.S. Department of the Treasury carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

Established: 28 January 2019 OFAC PDVSA designation, independently reported. He did not sign the Treasury notice.

Not established: that 2016’s contraction was thereby authored in 2019, or a unique later UNHCR coefficient from that Monday.

He owned PDVSA’s political management. 2017 financial sanctions sat as earlier external weather. Pre-2017 policy collapse remains a parent.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies The United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market, not a later speech about The United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to Treasury designated. He owned PDVSA’s political management. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorNicolás Maduro
  2. contributed toFactThe United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Sanctions Pressure
  4. strengthensIndicatorPoverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). The United States designates PDVSA under OFAC, cutting the oil company’s US market. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ve-pdvsa-ofac-2019

https://factrail.ai/facts/ve-pdvsa-ofac-2019

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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