Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, on Wednesday appointed a new minister of hydrocarbons, a key position in the oil-rich nation that she previously held under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

The new appointment comes shortly after high-profile visits by US President Donald Trump’s energy and interior chiefs to discuss ramping up oil and gas output following Maduro’s removal.

Rodriguez said in a post on Telegram that she was naming “petroleum engineer Paula Henao as the new Minister of Hydrocarbons.”

She will be tasked with “continuing to boost our country’s energy engine and strengthening the sovereign development of the national oil, gas, and petrochemical industry,” Rodriguez said.

Paula Henao has more than 20 years of experience with the Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA and was previously serving as deputy minister in charge of oil.

It is the latest shakeup in Venezuela’s leadership under Rodriguez, who assumed power in early January following the deadly US military raid that seized Maduro and his wife from the country.

She has made restoring Venezuela’s sanction-crippled oil industry a priority — in line with Washington’s aims — seeking to boost the country out of a years-long economic crisis.

Under US pressure, including a naval blockade in the Caribbean, Rodriguez has pushed through legislative reforms to open up the sector to private investments.

The Trump administration has, meanwhile, granted sanctions waivers to six energy giants to operate in the country.

AFP