Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday backed a plan to make it easier for foreign companies to participate in the country’s oil industry, the latest move by the city of Caracas to meet US President Donald Trump’s demands.
For almost two decades, much of the country’s oil industry has been nationalized under the government-controlled oil company PDVSA, with foreign oil companies only allowed to operate in limited joint ventures with public companies.
Reforms to the country’s hydrocarbons law, announced last week by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, would allow foreign companies to manage oil fields at their “own risk and expense,” Venezuelan lawmaker Orlando Camacho said.
Venezuela’s National Assembly gave its initial support for the reform bill on Thursday, and it is currently undergoing a second round of deliberations to pass it.
“Underground oil is useless,” said National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez, the acting president’s brother. “What’s the point in saying we have the largest oil reserves on earth if conditions prevent us from accelerating the process of… producing more oil? And we need to do it now.”
In opening up access to U.S. oil companies, the move fulfills one of the main demands the Trump administration made of Caracas following the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces earlier this month.
The White House previously announced an agreement between Caracas and Washington to sell $500 million worth of Venezuelan oil, and Rodriguez said Tuesday that Venezuela had received $300 million of that.
In what appeared to be another move to meet U.S. demands, lawmakers on Thursday backed another bill aimed at strengthening legal protections for companies. This is one of the issues that U.S. oil company executives have raised with President Trump as a condition for investing in the country.
Industry sources previously told CNN that it was unlikely that U.S. oil executives would be the first to jump into Venezuela for multiple reasons, including security and uncertainty about the country’s political and economic situation.
“The appetite to jump into Venezuela is pretty low right now. We have no idea what the Venezuelan government will look like,” one prominent industry source told CNN earlier this month.
Venezuela has more proven oil reserves than any other country on earth. But oil companies say investing in remote drilling projects requires confidence in what the business environment will look like years, if not decades, down the road.
Rodriguez also said at Wednesday’s Federal Government Council meeting that a public consultation will be held on March 8 on plans for national infrastructure projects and improvements to “essential public services” such as water, electricity and transportation.
The date, International Women’s Day, was chosen “so that we move forward with the spirit of women and the spirit of warriors,” Rodriguez said.
On Thursday, President Trump gave a positive assessment of the acting president when asked by reporters whether he would continue to serve as the acting president.
“But I have to say, she has shown very strong leadership and millions of barrels of oil are coming into the United States as we speak,” Trump said of Rodriguez. “Well, so far…they’ve shown very strong leadership.”
Rodriguez’s latest move comes as U.S. Senate Democrats demand to know whether Trump’s inner circle stands to profit from Venezuelan oil sales, following a CNN report about private talks between the Venezuelan regime and the country’s largest oil company.
The United States is also demanding that Venezuela release a number of political prisoners it holds across the country.
Venezuela has denied holding political prisoners in the past, but announced two weeks ago that it would release a “significant number” of people in a gesture of “peace” to the United States.
However, local organizations say the government has released only about 15% of those detained arbitrarily or for political reasons.
The group Justice, Encounters, Forgiveness said on Wednesday that it had documented 167 people released since January 8 and 949 still detained for political reasons, but said the number had increased in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, human rights group Foro Penal announced on Monday that 143 people had been released and the number of political prisoners was 777.
The government claims it has released more people than rights groups claim. On January 14, it reported that approximately 212 people have been released since parliamentary leaders announced a new phase of releases in early January. However, authorities continued to not reveal the identities of those released or the locations of the detention centers from which they were released.
CNN repeatedly requested more information from the government but received no response.
Among those released were prominent figures such as Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González. Enrique Marquez, another former opposition presidential candidate. Mr. Perkins Rocha is legal advisor to the Vente Venteñe Party.
In another development on Thursday, a senior State Department official confirmed to CNN that Ambassador Laura F. Dogou has been appointed Chargé d’Affaires to the U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs in Venezuela.
