Business & Economics
Venezuelan Assembly Fast-Tracks Oil Liberalization After U.S. Seizes Maduro
On 22 Jan 2026, Venezuela’s National Assembly approved the first reading of a bill that scraps Chávez-era state control and lets foreign firms fully operate and market crude, a shift pushed by Washington two weeks after U.S. forces abducted ex-president Nicolás Maduro.
Focusing Facts
- Draft law keeps a headline 30 % royalty but allows cuts to 15 % and grants companies international arbitration rights, ending the obligatory PDVSA majority rule imposed in 2007.
- Since Maduro’s capture on 3 Jan 2026, the United States has asserted indefinite control of Venezuela’s exports, requiring most barrels be sold to U.S. buyers and setting a floor price of roughly $45/bbl; China may purchase only at ‘fair-market’ rates.
- Satellite data show 29 % of methane produced by Venezuela’s decayed oil infrastructure currently vents to the atmosphere, over ten times the U.S. rate, raising multibillion-dollar environmental repair costs for any incoming investors.
Context
Resource policy in Caracas has swung like a pendulum before: Mexico’s 1938 expropriation or Iran’s 1951-53 nationalization (reversed by the CIA’s 1953 Operation Ajax) echo today’s unwind of Chávez’s 2007 takeover. The structural pattern is clear: whenever a petrostates’ leadership weakens, outside powers leverage debt, sanctions, or security pretexts to reopen fields to foreign capital, privileging legal assurances—today international arbitration—over mere access. This episode also exposes a century-old tension between U.S. hemispheric dominance doctrines and emerging multipolar buyers such as China: Washington now dictates both destination and price, effectively reviving a de-facto concession system last seen in the 1920s. On a 100-year horizon, however, the moment may prove pyrrhic; with a rapid global shift toward decarbonization and Venezuela’s heavy, methane-intensive crude among the world’s dirtier barrels, the political struggle for control could outlast the commercial value of the resource itself.
Perspectives
Mainstream business and wire-service outlets
Reuters, Associated Press syndications, Investing.com, Washington Times, U.S. News — They frame the post-Maduro oil overhaul and U.S. management of Venezuelan crude as a practical step to revive production, attract U.S. investment and ensure the country receives “fair market prices.” Reliance on U.S. officials and investor voices means the coverage largely mirrors Washington’s narrative, muting discussion of Venezuelan sovereignty or environmental fallout.
Left-leaning investigative media
The Intercept — It argues the U.S. drug-war pretext masks an imperial campaign to seize control of the world’s largest oil reserves, casting the Maduro abduction as another regime-change operation. By centering U.S. hegemony, it minimizes Maduro’s alleged corruption and narco-links, reflecting an ideological skepticism toward any U.S. intervention.
Environmental & climate-focused economic coverage
Marketplace — It warns that Venezuela’s broken infrastructure already leaks vast amounts of methane, so expanding production for U.S. firms would impose heavy climate costs. The single-study emissions focus may overstate environmental risks while giving limited weight to economic or geopolitical arguments for investment.