Venezuela forecasts $1.4 bn oil investments in 2026, up 55%

Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, on Monday forecast a $1.4 billion bonanza from planned reforms to the oil sector aimed at drawing in foreign investors following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro.

Rodriguez projected oil investments would rise 55 percent over 2025 after a bill ending decades of tight state control on the energy sector is adopted by parliament.

"Last year, investment came to nearly $900 million, and for this year, $1.4 billion in investments have been signed," claimed Rodriguez, who succeeded Maduro after his January 3 overthrow by U.S. special forces.

Rodriguez was addressing a business audience as part of public consultations on plans to throw open the oil sector to private investment.

"We must go from the country with the planet's biggest (proven) reserves of oil to a giant in production terms," Rodriguez argued.

The interim leader is under pressure from President Donald Trump to give U.S. oil companies access to Venezuela's rich crude deposits.

Trump backed her to take over from her former boss, Maduro, as long as she complies with his agenda.

Years of mismanagement and corruption drove Venezuela's output down from a peak of over 3 million barrels per day (bpd) in the early 2000s to a historic low of 350,000 barrels daily in 2020.

It has since rebounded to around 1.2 million bpd.

The hydrocarbons bill currently before the National Assembly stipulates that private companies located in Venezuela would be able to extract oil without having to enter a joint venture with the state oil company PDVSA, which insisted on a majority stake.

Legislators endorsed it during a first reading last week and are expected to adopt it in the coming days.

AFP