Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez asked lawmakers on Thursday to approve changes to the hydrocarbons law that she said would help draw investment and boost crude production.
Modifying the law "would allow for investment flows to be incorporated into new deposits, deposits where no investment has ever been made and where there is no infrastructure", Rodriguez said.
Her proposal comes less than two weeks after US troops captured her predecessor Nicolas Maduro in a pre-dawn raid in Caracas. US president Donald Trump has said the US will now control Venezuela's oil sales. But some US oil companies said they will need more assurances before making new investments in Venezuela.
Rodriguez provided few other details of the proposal, but one former Venezuelan oil official said that opening production in new areas is likely a requirement from the US.
The existing laws passed under late former president Hugo Chavez in 2005 mandated significant state control of the industry. Venezuela's crude production has declined from roughly 2.5mn b/d in 2005 to 1mn b/d now, based on government and industry data. It has roughly doubled since 2021 after US sanctions waivers for Chevron in its joint ventures with state-owned PdV allowed more investment at times.
But Rodriguez presented a chart to legislators that also confirmed a dip of about 21,000 b/d in production to 1.147mn b/d in December from 1.168mn b/d in November. This came as the US increased military pressure in the region and began seizing oil tankers carrying sanctioned Venezuelan crude.
Venezuela's crude output is still more than 10pc higher than a year earlier.
The oil ministry had earlier provided a production figure of 1.12mn b/d for December.
