Venezuela hopes to boost oil production in 2026

Venezuela wants to boost its oil production by 18% this year through planned reforms that will fully open the sector to private investors, the head of the state oil giant PDVSA said Saturday.

"We had a law...that was not up to date with what we needed as an industry," company CEO Hector Obregon said, adding the target for 2026 "is to grow by at least 18%."

Proposed reforms to the Organic Hydrocarbons Law would update the legal framework in the oil industry "to ensure that private investors can have legal certainty," Obregon said from the Puerto La Cruz refinery in eastern Venezuela.

Analysts say the law proposed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez and adopted in a first parliamentary reading on Thursday was drafted under pressure from Washington after the seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from Caracas by US forces during a raid and air strikes on January 3.

The law is expected to be passed next week.

The South American nation produces around 1.2 million barrels per day, according to authorities, and sits on about one-fifth of the world's oil reserves.

Years of mismanagement and corruption have driven production down from a peak of over 3 million bpd in the early 2000s to a historic low of 350,000 barrels daily in 2020.

If adopted, the bill would roll back decades of state control over Venezuela's oil sector, which were tightened by Maduro's late mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, in the mid-2000s.

US President Donald Trump has made no secret of his interest in Venezuela's oil. His administration has stated bluntly that it is taking over sales of the country's crude petroleum.

Rodriguez this week announced that the country had received an initial transfer of USD300 million after the sale of its oil by the US.

Oil exploitation had until now been the preserve of the state or of joint ventures in which the state held a majority stake.

The bill stipulates that private companies domiciled in Venezuela would be able to exploit oil after signing contracts.

"The main idea behind the hydrocarbons law and its reform is for us to increase oil production," said National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez, who is also the brother of the acting president.

"What is the primary objective? To adapt to a situation that allows us to extract the oil from the land that belongs to all Venezuelan women and men."