Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez delivers a speech during a presidential address to Parliament at the National Assembly in Caracas on Jan. 15, 2026.
Venezuela's interim president on Jan. 15 announced pending legal reforms to the country's critical fossil fuel sector, as she seeks to recalibrate ties with Washington.
Since the Jan. 3 capture of Nicolas Maduro, U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that the United States essentially controls Venezuela, while making clear that accessing its vast oil reserves is a key goal of the intervention.
Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world's oil reserves.
But it produced only around one percent of the world's total crude output in 2024, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.
Without providing details, interim president Delcy Rodriguez told parliament on Jan. 15 there would be reforms to Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, which limits the involvement of foreign entities in exploiting the nationalized resources.
Trump has recently pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela.
Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips exited in 2007 after refusing demands by then-president Hugo Chavez to cede majority control to the state.
Chevron is the only U.S. firm operating in Venezuela, under a special sanctions exemption license.
The US Department of Energy has unveiled a plan to develop Venezuela's oil industry and has begun marketing Venezuelan crude.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said Washington will control the sales of Venezuelan oil "indefinitely."
Rodriguez said the envisioned legal reform would result in money for "new fields, to fields where there has never been investment, and to fields where there is no infrastructure."
