U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visits Venezuela to assess oil industry overhaul
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- Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrives in Venezuela to oversee oil industry overhaul following Trump administration’s military ouster of President Nicolás Maduro last month.
- Venezuela passed new legislation opening its oil sector to private investment, ending the state company’s monopoly — a sharp reversal of two decades of socialist policy.
- The reforms aim to reassure major U.S. oil companies to return to Venezuela and help stabilize the nation’s economy through increased foreign investment.
CARACAS, Venezuela — The United States government on Wednesday further asserted its self-appointed role in turning around Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry with the arrival of Energy Secretary Chris Wright to the South American country for a firsthand assessment.
Wright’s visit comes as the administration of President Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the nation’s most important industry. It follows last month’s enactment of a Venezuelan law that opened the oil sector to private investment, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.
The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela welcomed Wright to the country, writing on social media that “the U.S. private sector will be essential to boost the oil sector, modernize the electric grid and unlock Venezuela’s enormous potential.”
Wright is expected to meet with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, government officials, oil executives and others.
Rodríguez was sworn into her new role after the brazen Jan. 3 seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. She proposed the overhaul of the country’s energy law after Trump said his administration would take control of Venezuela’s oil exports and revitalize the ailing industry by luring foreign investment.
Rodríguez’s government expects the changes to serve as assurances for major U.S. oil companies that have hesitated about returning to the volatile country. Some of those companies lost investments when the ruling party enacted the existing law two decades ago to favor Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA.
The new law now grants private companies control over oil production and sales, ending PDVSA’s monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. It also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, removing a mandate for disagreements to be settled only in Venezuelan courts, which are controlled by the ruling party.
Foreign investors view the involvement of independent arbitrators as crucial to guard against future expropriation.
Cano writes for the Associated Press.
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