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CARACAS, Venezuela — <\/span>Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> preached of lucrative long-term opportunities in her resource-rich country at a Saudi-backed investment summit on Wednesday, offering a window into how Venezuela\u2019s government is trying to lure investors to its oil sector.<\/p>\n Addressing the Miami summit from Venezuela, Rodr\u00edguez presented a reformed industry \u2014 one that has opened up to private capital, international arbitration and scrutiny<\/a> in the less than three months since the U.S. military captured her predecessor, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, and the White House began implementing a phased plan to turn the troubled country around. She didn’t mentioned Maduro, and instead focused on reassuring potential investors that Venezuela represents a safe investment in part thanks to the recent overhaul of its oil industry.<\/p>\n She projected the country will see double-digit economic growth this year and the following two years, creating conditions \u201cwhere investors know that, regardless of political changes or restrictive circumstances, there is security, that Venezuela has laws that allow for the safe return of their investments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in a process of stabilization, implementing the reforms needed for a productive environment and to attract investments that will diversify the engines of the Venezuelan economy,\u201d she said during a presentation delivered entirely in Spanish.<\/p>\n Venezuela sits atop the world\u2019s largest oil reserves and used them to power what was once Latin America\u2019s strongest economy. But corruption, mismanagement and U.S. economic sanctions saw production steadily decline from the 3.5 million barrels per day pumped in 1999, when Maduro\u2019s mentor, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>, took power, to less than 400,000 barrels per day in 2020.<\/p>\n In 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department under the first Trump administration locked Venezuela out of world oil markets when it sanctioned the state-owned Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA,<\/a> as part of a policy punishing Maduro\u2019s government for corruption. That forced the government to sell its remaining oil output at a discount \u2014 about 40% below market prices \u2014 to buyers such as China. Venezuela even started accepting payments in Russian rubles<\/a>, bartered goods or cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n The country currently produces about a million barrels a day.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Rodr\u00edguez touted Venezuela\u2019s low production costs and willingness to negotiate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we consider a barrel of oil, its production cost, 64% of that barrel has room for negotiation with the investor regarding royalty reductions, income tax reductions, and most importantly, the dividends the investor receives,\u201d she said. \u201cIf there is a large investment, obviously the return will be higher on that 64%.\u201d<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez was sworn in after Maduro and his wife were captured on Jan. 3 in Venezuela\u2019s capital, Caracas, and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Both have pleaded not guilty<\/a> and are expected to appear in court Thursday.<\/p>\n After taking office, Rodr\u00edguez, under pressure from the Trump administration, moved quickly to overhaul oil industry regulations<\/a>. A new law now grants private companies control over oil production and sales, ending PDVSA\u2019s monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. It also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, removing a mandate for disagreements to be settled only in Venezuelan courts, which are controlled<\/a> by the ruling party.<\/p>\n The U.S. Treasury Department, in return, has eased sanctions. Last week, it issued a broad authorization allowing PDVSA to directly sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after largely blocking dealings with Venezuela\u2019s government and its oil sector for years.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n