Venezuela hopes to boost its oil production by 18 percent in 2026

Venezuela wants to boost oil production by at least 18 percent this year through reforms that will fully open the sector to private investors, the head of the state oil giant company PDVSA said Saturday.

The proposed Hydrocarbons Law reforms would update the legal framework in the oil industry "to ensure that private investors can have legal certainty," PDVSA Chief said from the Puerto La Cruz refinery in eastern Venezuela. If adopted, the bill would roll back decades of state control over Venezuela's oil sector