U.S. gives oil refiner Nynas more time to avoid Venezuela sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday extended its authorization for companies to do business with Sweden's Nynas, giving the oil refiner more time to restructure its ownership to avoid American sanctions on Venezuela.

The department, in a notice on its website, extended the general license authorizing certain activities involving Nynas until May 14. Stockholm-based Nynas, which is owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA and Finland’s Neste Oil , proposed changes to its ownership structure in January.

The refiner, which was placed in the hands of a court-appointed administrator late last year, said it would only proceed with the changes if and when the United States' Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) confirmed the move would mean Nynas would no longer be subject to the U.S. sanctions. OFAC in the notice on Friday said it was engaged with Nynas on the proposed restructuring that "could potentially result in significant changes to Nynas AB’s ownership and control," adding that the license extension gave it extra time to do so.

Washington has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, including PDVSA, in an effort to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has held on to power and retains the backing of the military as well as Russia, China and Cuba.