Venezuela moves to open up oil sector to private investors as demanded by Trump

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday gave their initial backing to plans to throw open the oil sector to private investors, paving the way for the return of US energy majors – a key demand of President Donald Trump.

Less than three weeks after the US seized President Nicolas Maduro in an armed raid, MPs endorsed on first reading a bill allowing private companies to independently engage in oil exploration and extraction.

If adopted on a second reading, 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.