Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday offered preliminary approval to proposals that would loosen state control and open the vast oil industry to private investment, clearing a path for U.S. energy companies to return, a key demand of President Donald Trump.
Less than three weeks after the U.S. ouster of Nicolas Maduro, MPs endorsed on first reading a bill allowing private companies to independently engage in oil exploration and extraction.
If adopted, the bill would roll back decades of state controls over Venezuela's oil sector, which were tightened by Maduro's late mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, in the mid-2000s.
The bill has been promoted by Maduro's former deputy, acting President Delcy Rodrigue
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