Oil major Chevron, along with global trading houses Vitol and Trafigura, are among several firms competing for US government deals to export crude oil from Venezuela.
Sources say the contest reflects strong interest within the oil industry in gaining access to the South American country's crude stocks and production.
US officials have made it clear that Washington intends to control Venezuelan oil sales and revenues indefinitely.
Vitol and Trafigura were expected to join Chevron and other major oil companies at meetings at the White House on Friday to discuss the roles they could play in Venezuela's oil industry.
Ahead of those talks, the companies have been lobbying the US government in a bid to secure a share of what are expected to be lucrative oil export agreements.
Sources say the firms are competing for initial deals to market up to 50 million barrels of oil currently held in inventory by Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, amid a severe oil embargo that has included four tanker seizures.
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