Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said Venezuela can attract stable, long-term oil investment only under what she called a serious, democratic government. Her comments followed a Wednesday signing ceremony overseen by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, where international energy firms including Eni, GE Vernova and Chevron committed to expanding projects in Venezuela. The agreements are part of efforts to revive an oil industry producing about 1.25 million barrels per day, compared with a peak of 3 million bpd in the late 1990s. They are separate from a Caracas-Washington agreement giving the United States access to 17 oilfields. Machado said the United States is the principal partner Venezuela needs to develop its strategic potential, but questioned the oil deal’s true scope, signatories, guarantees and benefits for Venezuelans. She has been outside Venezuela since late last year after living in hiding to receive her Nobel and has cultivated ties with the Trump administration, which removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid. Maduro’s former vice president Rodriguez has led the country since then. U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio have defended Washington’s oil agreement as part of an effort to align Venezuela’s energy industry with the United States and help rebuild a country damaged by corruption, while saying elections are not yet appropriate. International observers have criticized the official results of Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, which Machado’s political movement says it won by a landslide; electoral authorities and the top court said Maduro won.