Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday backed a plan that would make it easier for foreign companies to participate in the country’s oil industry, in the latest move by Caracas to meet the demands of US President Donald Trump.
For almost two decades, much of the country’s oil industry has been nationalized under the government-controlled oil firm PDVSA, with foreign oil companies allowed only to operate in limited joint ventures with the public firm.
Under a proposed reform to the country’s hydrocarbons law, announced by acting President Delcy Rodríguez last week, foreign companies would be allowed to manage oilfields at their “own risk and cost,” Venezuela lawmaker Orlando Camacho said.
…