Venezuela wants to release production and sale of oil by foreign companies with the right to profits, says agency

The new reform to Venezuela’s hydrocarbons law, proposed by the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, should allow foreign and local companies to operate Venezuelan oil fields through a new contract model. The measure also allows these companies to commercialize production and receive profits from sales, even as minority shareholders of the state-owned PDVSA. The information was released this Thursday (22) by the Reuters news agency, which had access to preliminary documents. The proposal was presented by Rodríguez last week to the National Assembly. If approved, the reform should profoundly change the structure of the country’s oil industry, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), modifying the historic oil law created under the government of the late president Hugo Chávez. See the videos that are trending on g1 See the videos that are trending on g1 The expectation is that Venezuelan parliamentarians will begin the discussion on the reform this Thursday. The proposal still needs to be approved by the National Assembly to come into force. The proposal was presented after an agreement considered emblematic between Venezuela and the United States this month, which provides for the supply of up to 50 million barrels of oil between Caracas and Washington. The treaty would have been signed after the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro by the USA. According to the agency, oil sector executives and potential investors have been asking for autonomy to produce, export and receive profits from the sale of oil in the country, following the nationalizations and expropriation of assets promoted by Chávez two decades ago. These demands are part of the ambitious reconstruction plan proposed by Washington for the Venezuelan energy industry, estimated at US$100 billion (R$531.2 billion). The proposal would allow the government to reduce royalties to 15%, compared to the current rate of 33%, on special projects or those that require robust investments. The text also provides for the possibility of resorting to independent arbitration to resolve disputes. The rare combination that gave Venezuela the oil reserves considered the largest in the world Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, speaks on January 8, 2026 during the ceremony honoring Venezuelan and Cuban military and security personnel who died during the US operation to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters

Source link