The confrontation this time is inevitable

At the Venezuela oil is a struggle. For those who doubt, just take a look in the rearview mirror. In the 1920s, the Venezuela was the second producer of black gold. Foreign companies suitcases up profits. But in 1943, Caracas requires a sharing of profits 50-50. After this blow, the majors have constantly to regain lost ground. They will be little by little hands on the domestic industry. Until the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, again claiming his part: "Making the oil to the people."

Horror: the new President its promise. Early 2000, an earthquake shakes the small world of the major global oil groups. Hugo Chavez wants to implement its project to use oil revenues to finance its ambitious electoral promises. A policy through a very firm resumed control of the public company Petroleos Venezuela its (PDVSA), become with time a real state in the State and whose links with the Western majors are a mystery to anyone. At the headquarters of the group, these projects are a lift of shields. Leaders and managers of the public company know that they are not alone: in Washington, there is concern openly Chavez "drift". Anti-American, anti-liberal, nationalist, human seems determined to challenge the hegemony of the United States in Latin America, and elsewhere in the world. Although Chavez said did not want to stop the shipments of Venezuelan black gold in the United States, plans for the PDVSA are the worst effect: the Venezuela does not sixth of U.S. imports of oil A friend of Castro at the head of a country as strategic, a man decided to conduct its own diplomacy and establish contacts with the Iran, China and the Russia, a man also resolved to break the power of the PDVSA: this is what is neither Washington nor the head of the public company. To the point of very serious consideration to push Chavez towards the exit...

Whether the Mexico or the Venezuela, the United States have decidedly no chance with the producer countries of the Americas oil! All had yet started so well. In the Mexico first, which would come the first alert. The oil there was discovered in 1904. The operation was entrusted to two companies, the U.S. Pan American Petroleum created by Edward Doheny and English Mexican Eagle, work of one of the most famous engineers of his time: sir Weetman Pearson. Specializing in the design and manufacture of bridges, canals and tunnels, it very quickly became one of the main petroleum operators of the Mexico, then resold the company to Royal Dutch Shell, in 1919. With the money of the transaction, sir Pearson was building an empire of press which has today titles as the "Financial Times", "The Economist", the Penguin editions or the daily "Les Echos"... Subsequently, most of the major oil groups were implanted in the Mexico, be it the Gulf or Standard Oil of New Jersey.

In the early 1920s, the Mexico had thus become a true eldorado for the majors. Until this March 18, 1938 the President Mexican Cardenas had signed a decree expropriating foreign oil tankers and transfer all their assets to a national company. Concerned, in full international tensions, not to open a front in the South of the United States, President Roosevelt to was refused to intervene militarily, merely comfortable compensation for expropriated companies to negotiate with the Mexican Government. Fortunately for them, there was still the Venezuelan oil...

On all tables

Black gold had been discovered at the Venezuela at the end of the 19th century. But the real oil boom was produced under the regime of General Gomez, from 1908 to 1928. Corrupted to the spinal cord, whereas the country as its property, distributing the motivations to his followers and his family, this caricature of dictator, father of 97 illegitimate children and great admirer of Kaiser, was widely opened the door of the Venezuela to oil majors. In the early 1920s, they were all there, generously dousing the Gomez clan, who took a perverse pleasure to play in all tables. One of the sons-in-law of the General was so fun to sell two different companies the same rights to oil exploitation, cashing in the case of the money and leaving the two operators to fend for themselves to manage this puzzle. In another case in the area of Lake Maracaibo, Standard Oil of New Jersey had taken care to buy a fishing fleet in the always possible hypothesis where a mishap of this type happen to him. Absence of oil, it could still engage in the trade of fish...

To get the oil to the Venezuela, need to sum of the nerves of steel and lots of money. But the game was worth the candle: after the nationalization of the Mexican oil, the Venezuela became the world's second producer of black gold behind the United States. Western companies were then the rain and the weather. In the early 1920s, they had obtained the departure of the Minister of finance, supporter of increased taxes paid on black gold. At Caracas, he was not a single politician who paid money from Western companies.

A State in the State

But the wind, there also, eventually turn. In 1943, the Government of Venezuela, inspired by Mexican example for money, had enacted new rules, imposing on dealers increase of royalties and, above all, a sharing of the benefit in two halves equal. The famous rule of the "50-50" was born. It was going to do school in all oil-producing countries. Then had come, in 1975, nationalization and the creation of the public company PDVSA. Ten years later, with the globalization of the economy, the Venezuelan authorities had changed their shoulder rifle, implementing a new policy called "oil opening." To increase its revenues and to exploit new deposits, the PDVSA had received permission to build partnerships with foreign companies. It is thus that a multitude of common subsidiaries were created in the 1990s to exploit the oil fields of the Venezuela

with Shell, Mobil, BP, Elf Aquitaine, Amoco, Chevron...

The giant public eventually be totally captured by foreign interests, leading its own policy and making voting laws promoting its activities and those of its partners. Mid-1990s, its CEO, Luis Giusti, was a former Shell Executive and a former advisor to the Bush administration. Under its mandate, the PDVSA was able to vote une Act allowing it to export to the United States all of the production of a recently discovered gas field. Thanks the policy of opening the public group had in fact totally escaped the Venezuelan authorities. Result: the share of the revenue paid by the group the State had ceased to reduce, from 70 in 1981 to 38 in 1999.

It is this situation that Hugo Chavez is determined to change, upon its entry into service early in 1999. The new President has indeed ambitions: it wants to build hundreds of schools and thousands of homes, redistribute millions of hectares of land, creating agricultural cooperatives, provide health care to the greatest number. To fund this program, it counts on oil revenues, which implies first and foremost to the steps the PDVSA. In September 1999 and November 2001, two laws upsets the bottom oil legislation fundamentally. The public group is placed under the direct authority of the Ministry of energy and is imposing new CEO; a blow of brake is given to the internationalization of the Group and the opening of its capital via the joint subsidiaries; the public nature of the Venezuelan basement is reaffirmed. At the same time, Hugo Chavez campaigned in OPEC, which the Venezuela is a member, to obtain increased the price of a barrel, including by a decrease in collaborative production. Finally, he signed an agreement with a dozen countries of the Caribbean and Central America for the sale of oil at preferential prices. An agreement is also signed with Cuba providing for an exchange of black gold against 13,000 physicians. All the elements of the confrontation between Chavez on the one hand, the PDVSA and Washington on the other are now met...

The public group, it dislikes indeed all at the time of arrest given to the policy of internationalization, sales at preferential prices and withdrawals not less than $ 600 million carried out by the State to fund major social programs of Chavez. The Waltz of the CEOs three since 2000 is also grind teeth. The conflict broke out on April 7, 2002, when Chavez imposes the departure of 20 frames. The confrontation, this time, is inevitable. Five days later, on April 12, a coup is organized against the President. He was fully prepared by the PDVSA, supported frameworks for the occasion by leaders of the army Venezuelan, the business community, the Embassy of the United States to Caracas and the CIA. Arrested in the evening at the end of a huge demonstration of opponents, Hugo Chavez is replaced at the head of the State by Pedro Carmona, the President of the Chamber of commerce of the Venezuela, which was received a few days earlier at the White House. One of his first actions is to appoint the head of the public company a leader who came from the old team and suspend oil legislation...

In the step

We know that it happened. Ill-prepared the CIA is what it was! the coup does not withstand the manifestations of the supporters of Chavez, restored at the head of the State less than 48 hours after his arrest. PDVSA, has not said its last word. Eight months later, in November 2002, the Group executives left in place by Chavez after the coup of April organized, with the help of management environments, a general strike that will last not least sixty-three days. The public group stop virtually any activity, resulting in a decrease in oil production by 70 and 9 of the domestic product falling crude the country. Again, the operation fails because of Chavez supporters. This time, the President did not hesitate: at the beginning of the year 2003, 18,000 of the 42,000 employees PDVSA including 80 of executives are laid off, the Venezuelan industry receiving the order not to hire one. The purge is severe. It causes a leak of the brain drain, many executives laid off joining the foreign oil companies. Chavez won not less the bet: five years after his election, the public group is permanently set to be.

Washington in the headquarters of oil companies are considered now with horror the latest initiatives of Hugo Chavez. In April 2006, he thus imposed new contracts to operate in seventeen foreign oil companies including Shell, Chevron, ENI, Totalet BP. Now, the majors will no longer operate only in the country but must do so through common companies in which the PDVSA will have 60 of the capital. In addition, Caracas claimed the companies to the delays of tax amounted to tens of millions of dollars. Even worse: after having signed contracts with China and the Russia, to be closer to the Iran and sent a few praise destined for the North Korea, Hugo Chavez is school! Elected in late 2005 at the head of the Bolivia, President Evo Morales announced the nationalization of the hydrocarbons and sends the army take possession of the fields operated by foreign multinationals to force them to negotiate new contracts. Caracas, Chavez can smile: sitting on reserves estimated between 100 and 270 billion barrels for one extra heavy crude in the Orinoco Belt, worn by prices flirt with 80 dollars a barrel, it has the means to lay a few large stones in the garden of Washington. One hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the colonel Drake in Titusville, oil is set to return in a new era. An era marked by the entry in the running of new countries and the growing challenge of power and the positions of the incumbent operators. From across the world, the war for the black gold is now raging.