* Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado calls

for new oil law for investment security

* Machado supports keeping Citgo as a strategic asset for

Venezuela

* Machado advocates reducing PDVSA's size, transferring

operations to private sector

* Machado highlights geopolitical factors boosting

interest in Venezuela's energy industry

(New throughout, adds background on oil law reform, contracts,

company reactions)

By Marianna Parraga and Nathan Crooks

HOUSTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Venezuela opposition

leader Maria Corina Machado told Reuters on Tuesday that early

interest in Venezuela's oil sector is positive but she called

for more transparency and contract security, including a new oil

law, to further increase crude and gas output in the South

American country.

In January, Venezuela's National Assembly approved a

sweeping reform of the country's main oil law after the U.S.

capture of President Nicolas Maduro this year. The new law

grants foreign producers autonomy to operate and export the OPEC

country's oil, yet many companies have said more changes are

needed to reach U.S. President Donald Trump's goal of attracting

$100 billion in investment.

"I'm here to attract attention to Venezuela, not delay it,"

she said in an interview before her Tuesday afternoon speech at

the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

Machado said Venezuela could eventually produce as much as 5

million barrels of oil a day, with $150 billion in investment

needed. Investors, however, need rule of law, independent

institutions and respect for contracts in Venezuela in the long

term, which Machado says would be granted by a new government

once the country holds a presidential election.

In the meantime, she said, Washington's supervision of oil

revenue is needed to prevent corruption or wrongdoing. Since

January, the U.S. has been controlling oil proceeds through bank

accounts handled by the Treasury Department, and the Venezuelan

administration of interim President Delcy Rodriguez is working

to restore output to the 1.2 million bpd it was producing before

a strict U.S. oil blockade was implemented to pressure Maduro.

INVESTMENT SECURITY

Machado, asked if investors should speak to her or the

Rodriguez administration, said it depends on whether investors

"want to refer to the past, or to the future, and then you make

up your mind." She said elections would come soon, and she is

committed to and supportive of the strategy put in place by the

U.S. administration.

Asked if interested investors should return right now or

wait, she said they "should be preparing, and looking for

opportunities."

Rodriguez has said that the country has sufficient

protections to attract investment.

"You have guarantees, you have legal certainty, political

security, stability and peace of mind so your investments can be

developed fully - not only in the hydrocarbons sector, where

there are many opportunities, but also in the mining sector,"

Rodriguez told visiting investors at an event at the

presidential palace in Caracas.

Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said early interest in

Venezuela's energy industry could facilitate further investment.

An ongoing review of oil contracts, particularly of those signed

under Maduro, also could provide trust, she added.

Machado sees Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA, which

currently controls all joint ventures in the country, eventually

being reduced in size before transferring operations to the

private sector. However, she wants Houston-based oil refiner

Citgo Petroleum - owned by PDVSA - to remain in Venezuela's

hands as a strategic asset.

"Losing Citgo would be damaging to Venezuela and an error

for U.S. energy security," she said.

An auction of Citgo's parent company was completed last year

but is now waiting for the final green light from the U.S.

Treasury. Speaking about the process,Machado used a baseball

analogy.

"Until the last out, in the last inning, there's a

possibility," she said.