Venezuela wants to open up its oil industry to foreign investors
Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, just pitched a new oil reform bill that could shake things up for the country's struggling energy sector.
The plan? Make it way easier for private and foreign companies to run oil fields, sell crude directly, keep their profits separate, and settle disputes through international arbitration—basically giving them more freedom than they've had in decades.
Why does it matter?
This marks a big break from Hugo Chavez's old-school state control.
The bill would keep a 30% royalty but permit the government to reduce royalties (and taxes) to as low as 15% for certain costly or hard-to-develop projects or in some joint-ventures, hoping to attract serious investment.
Production has rebounded from about 300,000 barrels per day in 2020 to about 900,000 barrels per day (in 2025), but experts say even more growth is possible if Venezuela can sort out security issues and invest billions into infrastructure.
For young people watching global energy shifts (and job prospects), these changes could mean new opportunities—and some real challenges ahead.