
Venezuela unveils oil bill to attract investors, lift output
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. CARACAS, Venezuela—The country’s interim government unveiled a bill Thursday to loosen the state’s iron-tight control over its beleaguered oil industry, a move aimed at attracting U.S. energy companies but one that analysts say falls short of what is needed to unlock major new investments and revive output as President Trump has demanded.
Since the Jan. 3 raid in which U.S. commandos removed strongman Nicolás Maduro from power, President Trump has pressed American producers to quickly pour $100 billion into Venezuela, where only Chevron has a license permitting it to operate.
The president hopes to lower U.S. oil prices to $50 a barrel, lowering gasoline at the pump in an election year. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s hydrocarbons bill, which is expected to be approved next week by Venezuela’s National Assembly, would give companies more autonomy to operate oil fields and export crude under contracts with state oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA.
The proposal would codify into law the opaque oil deals, known as productive participation contracts, that Maduro implemented to circumvent U.S. sanctions on the oil industry, oil analysts say. It would keep a 30% royalty but permit the government to reduce it to 15% in some joint ventures.
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