On October 18, 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the temporary modification of the sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Through the press release, the U.S. Treasury Department informed that "licenses were issued
transactions involving Venezuela's oil, gas and gold sector, in addition to
to remove the ban on secondary trading. This temporary relief will facilitate the industry's agreements
oil and gas agreements between the Venezuelan State and foreign investors.

In this sense, General License No. 44 authorizes all those transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) or any entity in which PDVSA owns, directly or indirectly, a 50% or more of
The operations authorized by the license include the following:

1. Production, lifting, sale and export of oil or gas from Venezuela and the supply of
   goods and related services;
2. Payment of invoices for goods and services related to oil and gas operations in the oil and gas sector in
   Venezuela;
3. New investments in oil or gas operations in Venezuela; and
4. Delivery of oil or gas from Venezuela to creditors of the Government of Venezuela, including
   to creditors of the PDVSA Entities, for the purpose of payment of debts

Thus, with General License No. 44, both Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and its subsidiaries are once again authorized to produce, market, explore and sell oil and gas internationally,
from or to Venezuela; they are also authorized to trade with the United States and Venezuela.
U.S. persons.

General License No. 43 authorizes transactions involving the Compañía General de
Minería de Venezuela (CVG) or its subsidiaries; which means that all transactions are authorized and permitted for
CVG, related to the production and commercialization of gold at international level.

Finally, the modification of General Licenses 3I and 9H.which eliminates the prohibitions of
secondary market purchases of certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and bonds or shares prior to
2017 issued by Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). Therefore, the exchange transactions are authorized,
purchase and sale of bonds and transactions of Venezuela with the owners of such bonds. The prohibition of
trading in the primary Venezuelan bond market remains in effect.

It is important to note that all of these operations and transactions authorized by General Licenses N°.
43, No. 44, 3I and 9H will be authorized only until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time, 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time on
April 2024.

At Alan Aldana & Abogados we have specialists in the area of finance and hydrocarbons, we have extensive experience in the following areas
experience in the recovery of claims and payments from national and state-owned companies in the oil and gas industry, and
we can advise and support you within the framework of the authorizations issued in the General Licenses N°.
43 and N °45 explained above.