Venezuela: It’s our oil

WHEN Venezuela’s government announced this week that two American oil giants, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhilips, would walk away from their large investment in the Orinoco heavy-oil belt rather than accept tough new contract terms, officials presented it as the recovery of sovereignty over another slice of the country’s all-important oil industry. Some other Venezuelans saw a government blunder that could accelerate the decline of the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Either way, the impact of the walkout may not be immediate.

The companies were among those attracted to Venezuela in the 1990s, under the terms of an oil


Seven of the 11 companies operating in the Orinoco belt, including Chevron of the United States, Britain’s BP and France’s Total, agreed to the new terms. Along with Exxon and Conoco, Petro-Canada and Opic, a Taiwanese company, did not. Venezuela will pay compensation, possibly running into billions of dollars. Conoco said it had