Venezuela oil reform encourages immediate investment, still needs to go deeper

A proposed reform of Venezuela's oil law is enough to encourage companies working in the country to expand and for some new entrants to begin investing, but deeper reforms would be necessary to attract the $100 billion the U.S. says is required to revamp the nation's energy sector, foreign and local executives and lawyers said.



The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports and revenue following a military incursion to capture President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, and a naval blockade to stop oil shipments on sanctioned vessels since December.



Oil is the Venezuelan government's main source of revenue. Washington has said it plans to control the country's energy resources and revenue indefinitely to ensure Caracas governs in a way that the U.S. considers is in line with its foreign policy targets.



U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing U.S. oil companies to invest massively in the country's dilapidated industry to reverse decades of mismanagement and underinvestment. For many investors, one of the biggest obstacles to secure capital for Venezuela is a long-standing legal framework that gives

state-run oil company PDVSA a monopoly on operating projects in the oil and gas sector.