PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, is advancing in talks with the United States for crude sales, while making clear that any U.S. purchases must occur at international market prices, a company board member told Reuters.

Chevron, the U.S.-based oil major, remains the only American company authorised to export Venezuelan crude. The arrangement highlights Caracas’ insistence on market-based pricing, even as Washington seeks greater access to the country’s oil sector.

On Tuesday, the U.S. announced it could purchase up to 2 billion US dollars of Venezuelan crude, following pressure from President Donald Trump for interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez to open the nation’s oil industry to American companies.

PDVSA said negotiations follow terms similar to those it has with Chevron, its main joint-venture partner. “The process is based on strictly commercial transactions under terms that are legal, transparent and beneficial for both parties,” the company said.

Board member Wills Rangel, also a union leader, emphasised that U.S. buyers would need to pay market rates. “If they want to buy it, they will have it in due time, sold at the international price,” he said. “Not the way (Trump) intends. We do not owe anything to the United States.”

With broader sanctions limiting exports to China, Chevron continues to serve as the sole conduit for Venezuelan crude to the U.S., reflecting both commercial and geopolitical challenges in the country’s oil industry.