Venezuela’s interim president pitches oil and legal reforms to investors at Saudi-backed Miami Beach summit

Miami Beach forum spotlights Venezuela’s effort to reopen its oil industry to foreign capital

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, used a Saudi-backed international investment conference in Miami Beach on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, to present Venezuela as a restructured, investor-ready market—particularly for oil and related sectors. Rodríguez addressed the gathering remotely from Caracas during the FII PRIORITY Miami summit, held March 25–27 at the Faena Hotel.

Her remarks focused on changes adopted since early January, when Nicolás Maduro was removed from power and transferred to the United States to face criminal proceedings. Rodríguez has served as interim president since January and has positioned her administration’s economic strategy around restoring production capacity, regaining access to markets, and rebuilding investor confidence after years of sanctions, corruption allegations, and institutional instability.

Oil sector overhaul: private control, arbitration and revised fiscal terms

Rodríguez described a new legal framework that allows greater private participation in Venezuela’s oil industry, including control over production and sales that previously sat under the state oil company’s monopoly. She highlighted the introduction of independent arbitration mechanisms for disputes, replacing earlier rules that largely confined conflicts to Venezuelan courts.

She also emphasized the government’s readiness to negotiate fiscal terms tied to oil projects, including royalties, income taxes and investor returns. In her presentation, Rodríguez pointed to Venezuela’s large reserves and low production costs as competitive advantages, while framing the updated rules as a basis for what she called “legal security” designed to outlast political shifts.

Sanctions posture shifting as Washington loosens restrictions on oil transactions

The Miami pitch unfolded amid changes in U.S. policy toward Venezuela’s energy sector. In mid-March, U.S. authorities issued a broad authorization permitting Venezuela’s state oil company to sell oil directly to U.S. companies and into global markets, a significant shift after years of tight constraints. The move has been framed as part of a wider strategy to influence Venezuela’s trajectory while increasing available oil supply during heightened geopolitical stress.

Venezuela’s oil output had fallen sharply over the past two decades, dropping from roughly 3.5 million barrels per day in 1999 to under 400,000 barrels per day by 2020. Current production has been cited at about 1 million barrels per day, still far below historical peaks and widely seen as dependent on investment, equipment, and operational rehabilitation.

Beyond hydrocarbons: broader investment narrative, unresolved political questions

Rodríguez portrayed Venezuela as being in a stabilization phase, arguing that reforms are intended to support a broader recovery beyond energy. She referenced activity in construction, banking, insurance, mining and manufacturing as part of a diversification message aimed at U.S., Saudi and Latin American investors attending the summit.

While the presentation concentrated on economic policy, fundamental political issues remain open, including the timing and conditions of future elections and the durability of institutional reforms. For investors, the central question is whether newly announced protections—especially dispute resolution and commercial control—will be consistently applied in practice as Venezuela’s transition continues.

• Event: FII PRIORITY Miami summit, March 25–27, 2026, Miami Beach
• Speaker: Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, address delivered by videoconference from Caracas
• Core message: oil sector liberalization, international arbitration, and investor protections
• Context: U.S. sanctions policy shifting to allow broader oil sales under defined conditions

The Miami appearance underscored how Venezuela’s economic reentry strategy is being marketed internationally as a legal and regulatory reset anchored in hydrocarbons, while investors continue to weigh political continuity and enforcement risks.