Q& A With Venezuela’s Energy Minister

On May 1, Venezuela went from being a minority partner to a majority stakeholder in four huge oil fields in the Orinoco Belt, known as the Faja. In doing so, it took operational control over fields that until then had been run by Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Britain’s BP, Statoil of Norway and France’s Total.

The Washington Post spoke with Rafael Ramirez, the president of Pdvsa and also the minister of energy and mines. Excerpts are below: