Policy-Making and the Quest for Consensus: Nationalizing Venezuelan Petroleum

Abstract

On 1 January 1976, President Carlos Andrés Pérez formally proclaimed the nationalization of Venezuela's massive petroleum industry. Standing upon the site of Zumaque Number 1, in 1914 the first commercially drilled well in the nation, he thus observed a historic benchmark in the evolution of the relationship between the foreign corporations and the Venezuelan state (Pérez, 1976a). After six decades' concessional exploration and exploitation, an era had ended. From the outset it was apparent that the 1976 nationalization was moderate and nonradical. As will be seen, both compensation and association agreements with international oil interests were central elements in the action. The latter in particular had been the focus during months of acrimonious national debate, as symbolized by article 5 and the Ley de Nacionalización de la Industria Petrolera. Moreover, it was largely upon discussion of its implications that a determined effort to achieve nonpartisan agreement ultimately foundered and sank.