On January 29, Venezuelan lawmakers officially passed amendments to the oil and gas law, marking a historic turning point in national energy policy. This move was carried out with the support of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, to open up the industry that is tightly controlled by the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) corporation.
According to the amended content, Venezuela will allow foreign companies to manage oil fields with risks and costs borne by themselves. This is a fundamental change compared to the old mechanism, directly meeting the requirements made by the administration of US President Donald Trump after political upheavals in early January.
Venezuela is currently the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves. Speaking at the announcement ceremony, Ms. Delcy Rodríguez affirmed that the new law will help optimize profits from this huge resource.
The law allows us to make a historic qualitative leap, turning the world's largest oil reserves into the greatest happiness for the Venezuelan people," Ms. Rodríguez declared.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez also expressed his agreement on Telegram: "This legal tool will promote the energy sector, increase oil production in unexploited fields and transform it into prosperity".
Immediately after the move from Caracas, the US Treasury Department issued a joint license, allowing US companies to carry out a number of activities related to exporting, trading, storing and transporting oil and gas with the Venezuelan government.
At the same time, President Trump also informed the cabinet that the US will soon "open" commercial airspace to Venezuela. "US citizens will soon be able to go to Venezuela, they will be safe there. Everything is being tightly controlled," Mr. Trump said.
However, there are still concerns from the business side. The CEO of Exxon Mobil previously stated that Venezuela is "uninvestable" in the current situation. Observers say the US administration is considering using private military contractors to protect energy assets here to reassure investors.
