Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez said in his state of the nation address last night that he would submit a proposal to reform the hydrocarbon law, as U.S. investors demand easier access to the South American country's oil industry, Reuters reported.
Rodriguez said the reform would "allow these investment flows to be included in new areas, areas where there has never been investment and areas where there is no infrastructure."
According to the interim president, the oil revenues will go to workers and public services.
The United States claims that about $500 million has already been generated from oil sales under an agreement with Caracas and that these funds are in bank accounts controlled by USA.
Rodriguez, who was sworn in ten days after her predecessor Nicolas Maduro was ousted in a US operation, delivered her first State of the Nation address to Venezuelan lawmakers.
She took over as interim president after US troops captured President Maduro and took him to the US to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, which he denies.
Although Rodriguez criticized Maduro's capture, calling it a "stain on relations" with the United States, she also encouraged the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Her short 44-minute speech and largely conciliatory tone were in dramatic contrast to the lengthy speeches against American imperialism of her predecessors, which usually lasted several hours, the AP notes.
Rodriguez seemed to be trying to strike a balance. During the speech, a portrait of Maduro and his wife was displayed next to her, and she said she would defend Venezuela's national interests and sovereignty despite the country's rapprochement with the United States.
Rodriguez said that if she had to travel to Washington, she would do so "with her own feet, not dragged by force."
She also said she had a plan for 2026 and that she would "create a new policy in Venezuela," and also praised a number of long-serving members of the country's government.