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Venezuelan lawmakers have taken the first step toward opening the country’s oil sector to private investors, a move that could pave the way for the return of US energy companies.
On Thursday, Members of Parliament approved the oil reform bill in its first reading. If passed in a second reading, the legislation would roll back decades of state control over Venezuela’s oil industry, ending a Chavez-era requirement that private companies form joint ventures with the state oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A(PDVSA), which had to hold a majority stake.
The bill has been championed by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former deputy, who has overseen a rapid thaw in ties with Washington since assuming power following Maduro’s ouster earlier this month.
Rodriguez, who still holds the position of petroleum minister, told reporters that Venezuela is engaging in dialogue with the United States without fear.
President Trump has praised Rodriguez’s leadership, saying the United States is already benefiting financially from Venezuela’s oil, and suggested that the country could become wealthier while lowering US taxes.
The shift in Venezuela’s energy policy comes as Washington also confirmed Laura F. Dogu, a former ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras, as the new charge d’affaires to Caracas, a step seen as advancing the restoration of diplomatic ties severed after Maduro’s contested reelection in 2019.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but output has declined from over three million barrels per day in the early 2000s to around 1.2 million today.
Speaking to lawmakers, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, the acting president’s brother, urged swift passage of the bill, noting that every day Venezuela delays development is a day its oil reserves remain untapped.
