Venezuela’s congress has approved a bill making significant changes to the country’s oil sector after pressure from the US to open it up to foreign private investment. The new hydrocarbons law promises to give private companies control over oil production and sales, ease taxes and allow for independent arbitration of disputes, while largely maintaining state control over oil production. Trump said big US oil companies were already on the ground in Venezuela carrying out site assessments for potential operations. The Trump administration also eased some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry. But it still falls short of what US oil companies need to commit capital at scale.