Venezuelan oil companies are pushing for rapid reforms to allow them to control oil exports

Sources involved in the talks say that oil executives and lawyers from international oil companies are lobbying for changes to the hydrocarbon laws of OPEC members in order to 'give them the freedom to export the oil produced in Venezuela.

Many potential investors want to know how they can make this happen without waiting years for the legal and contractual reforms to protect their investment.

Representatives of international oil companies want to get things moving. They are asking for a few changes to the current legal framework in the oil industry. This would allow the state-run PDVSA to remain the majority stakeholder, but would give foreign partners the control over their share of the production, and access to oil terminals and export facilities to help facilitate shipments.

This would be a significant change to the current law which stipulates that oil production must be under PDVSA's control.

The state oil company has the right to sell oil and deposit proceeds into joint venture accounts with other oil companies in order to ensure cash flow to cover expenses, investment and dividends.

The U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector since 2019 have made it 'impossible' to implement this system, leading to the accumulation of billions in debts owed by PDVSA's partners, such as U.S. major Chevron and Italy's ENI, and Spain's Repsol.

The people also said that international oil companies want to eliminate extra taxes introduced by government after the 2021 law was passed, preserving only royalties and income tax.

Tax reform will result in a lower?government take on the value of oil produced. The government's take on oil is one of the highest in Latin America. This guarantees Venezuela at least half the value.

PDVSA, as well as the Oil Ministry, did not respond to our requests for comment.

Delcy Rod, Venezuela's interim oil minister and president, announced on Thursday that she would be presenting a proposal to the?Congress for a reform of the country's hydrocarbon laws to allow "investment flow to be incorporated in new fields, where no investments have ever been made, and fields where there is no infrastructure."

She said that the proposed reform had not yet been made public. However, she added that the government would incorporate a number of oil contracts signed by President Nicolas Maduro into legislation. These contracts were never published.

Many oil companies were unsure about the legality of these?contracts because they did not fall under the oil law. These deals were made during U.S. sanction, which prohibited investment in Venezuela's petroleum sector. They were negotiated without any public oversight and signed under U.S. restrictions.

Venezuela's opposition, which has been active for more than a decade, has criticized the opaqueness of contracts and companies that continue to do business under sanctions with the Maduro regime. (Reporting and editing by Alistair Bell; Marianna parraga)

(source: Reuters)