Oil In Venezuela Research Articles

Natural resource fund governance and the institutionalization of rent seeking in Nigeria's oil sector

AbstractThe concept of resource curse is widely accepted in the extant literature. However, the burden of proof remains high as some resource‐rich countries experience rapid economic growth. This study examines how Nigeria's strategy for governance and management of revenue proceeds from petroleum resources has helped sustain rent‐seeking behavior, the resource curse phenomenon, and under‐development of the country. Using the theory of new institutionalism and a process‐tracing method, the article argues that political and historical dynamics in establishing legislation for governance and management of oil and gas revenues engendered path‐dependent rent‐seeking practices sustained by selfish political elites. The resource curse is not universal or inevitable in resource‐rich countries, but largely a product of institutionalization and sustenance of initial unhealthy practices. We recommend that recognizing the need for savings, stabilization, and investment, and setting clear fiscal rules to check excessive political discretion will reduce rent seeking and the resource curse in Nigeria and elsewhere.Related ArticlesAli, Hamid E., and Shahjahan Bhuiyan. 2022. “Governance, Natural Resources Rent, and Infrastructure Development: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa.” Politics & Policy 50(2): 408–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12451.Ikeanyibe, Okechukwu M. 2018. “Bureaucratic Politics and the Implementation of Liberalization Reforms in Nigeria: A Study of the Unbundling and Reorganization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.” Politics & Policy 46(2): 263–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12249.Mähler, Annegret. 2011. “Oil in Venezuela: Triggering Conflicts or Ensuring Stability? A Historical Comparative Analysis.” Politics & Policy 39(4): 583–611. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00305.x.

Coalition trimming in spiraling economies: Evidence from the fall of Venezuela's Oil Czar

Coalition trimming in spiraling economies: Evidence from the fall of Venezuela's Oil Czar

Marine oil spill remediation by Candelilla wax modified coal fly ash cenospheres

Biodegradable candelilla wax (CW) was creatively used for hydrophobic modification of coal fly ash cenospheres (FACs), a waste product from thermal power plants, and a new spherical hollow particulate adsorbent with fast oil adsorption rate and easy agglomeration was prepared. CW was confirmed to physically coat FACs and the optimum mass of wax added to 3 g of FACs was 0.05 g. From a series of batch scale experiments, CW-FACs were found to adsorb oil, reaching adsorption efficiency of 80.6% within 10 s, and aggregate into floating clumps which were easily removed from the water's surface. The oil adsorption efficiency was highly dependent on hydrophobicity of the used adsorbent, the adsorption of Venezuela oil onto CW-FACs was found to be a homogenous monolayer, and the capacity and intensity of the adsorption decreased as temperature increased from 10 to 40 °C. The Langmuir isotherm model was the best fit, with the maximum adsorption capacity achieved at 649.38 mg/g. CW-FACs were also found to be highly stable in concentrated acid, alkaline and salt solutions, as well as for spills of different oil products. Furthermore, the retention rate of the oil adsorption capacity of the CW-FACs after 6 cycles of adsorption-extraction was as high as 93.2%. Therefore, CW-FACs can be widely used, easily recycled, and reused for marine oil spill remediation, which is also a good alternative disposal solution for FACs.

A New Scale for Global History

A New Scale for Global History

The post‐oil strategy of the UAE: An examination of diversification strategies and challenges

AbstractThis article aims to highlight and evaluate initiatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to diversify its economy away from oil dependency. This is accomplished via a qualitative methodology by collecting data through in‐depth interviews with government officials, experts, and academics to amass different views and perspectives on this matter. The findings show that the government has a clear vision for diversification, which is embodied in laws and policies for effectively executing a post‐oil strategy. Driven by economic sustainability and domestic concerns, vertical diversification strategies constitute the majority of UAE's economic diversification strategies and include: investing in research and development, attracting foreign direct investment, developing the petrochemical industry, manufacturing, tourism, aviation, financial services, banking hubs, logistical hubs, digital economy, and the knowledge economy. The UAE's diversification strategy is associated with many challenges. The economic challenges are global economic crises, oil price volatility, and exchange rate regime. The geopolitical challenges include regional conflicts and tensions. There are also cultural and social challenges pertaining to demographic imbalance and low Emirati's participation in the private sector.Related ArticlesHowie, Peter. 2018. “Policy Transfer and Diversification in Resource‐Dependent Economies: Lessons for Kazakhstan from Alberta.” Politics & Policy 46(1): 110–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12239Khodr, Hiba, and Isabella Ruble. 2013. “Energy Policies and Domestic Politics in the MENA Region in the Aftermath of the Arab Upheavals: The Cases of Lebanon, Libya, and KSA.” Politics & Policy 41(5): 656–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12033Mahler, Annegret. 2011. “Oil in Venezuela: Triggering Conflicts or Ensuring Stability? A Historical Comparative Analysis.” Politics & Policy 39(4): 583–611. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00305.x/abstract

Venezuela’s oil specter: Contextualizing and historicizing the Bolivarian attempt to sow the oil

ABSTRACTUnder the late Hugo Chávez’ rule in Venezuela, the country’s oil dependency was framed as a pernicious condition to overcome, at the same time as oil became a centerpiece for his social, political and symbolic nation-building project called ‘the Bolivarian process’. This article disentangles this multifaceted ambiguity through an exploration of how the near-90 years old Venezuelan political dictum of ‘sowing the oil’ was conceptualized under Chávez’ rule, situated within a historical analysis of the role of oil in Venezuela’s state formation, development trajectories and societal configurations throughout the twentieth century. Through entering into dialogue with the late Fernando Coronil’s extensive work on Venezuela, this article approaches Venezuela’s project of nation-building under Chávez as a reflection of the conditions and contradictions embedded in the country’s post-colonial, natural resource-exporting constitution. It is argued that a historical and structural analysis is indispensable for understanding the Bolivarian process’ conception and demise.

State of Health: Pleasure and Politics in Venezuelan Health Care under Chavez by Amy Cooper

Reviewed by: State of Health: Pleasure and Politics in Venezuelan Health Care under Chavez by Amy Cooper Alex Nading Amy Cooper. State of Health: Pleasure and Politics in Venezuelan Health Care under Chavez. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. x + 206 pp. Ill. $29.95 (978-0-520-29929-0). In State of Health, anthropologist Amy Cooper takes readers back to a time in the not-so-distant past, when the government of Hugo Chávez enacted a series of public sector reforms aimed at improving the lives of Venezuela's urban poor. Perhaps most notable among these is Barrio Adentro (Inside the Barrio). Adapted from a pillar of Cuba's revolutionary health system, Barrio Adentro moved physicians (many of them Cuban) and clinics into the neighborhoods where people lived. Cooper argues that the program not only parleyed Venezuela's oil wealth into free, accessible primary care available for the first time in many residents' lives but also became a source of "pleasure" for poor urban Venezuelans By exploring the many forms such pleasure took in a Caracas neighborhood, Cooper aims to highlight the "extramedical meanings of government medicine" (p. 22). In chapters on clinical encounters, medical pluralism, community health work, and elder care, Cooper amasses evidence to show that at its zenith in the late 2000s, Barrio Adentro's clients reported improved physical well being as well as feelings of empowerment, inclusion, and even joy. Importantly, Cooper claims, pleasure was not a fleeting phenomenon. The sense of inclusion and affection created by, for example, the warmth of a doctor's touch, deepened and sustained the impact of medical services. In many ways, it seems that pleasures, rather than measurable health outcomes, were the major results of the program. Consider the example of Magdalena, a community member profiled in Chapter 5. After her first encounter with a doctor in her new local clinic, she experienced what she called an "awakening" (p. 106). The pleasure she derived from that clinical visit inspired her to begin volunteering in her local Health Committee (Health Committees were another manifestation of the Chávez regime's version of participatory democracy). Magdalena is not alone. Cooper meets many residents—most of them avowed Chávez supporters—whose experiences of being treated with dignity in clinics caused them to look for ways uplift the dignity of their neighbors. [End Page 315] Of course, infectious pleasure does have its limits. In a later chapter, Cooper documents the rise and fall of Misión Negra Hipólita, a program designed to aid at-risk groups including the homeless and drug addicts. The mission was not successful, in part because these at-risk individuals, known as indigentes, failed to show up, to participate, to actively seek out care. It is here that Cooper does a particularly effective job of using ethnography to unsettle familiar narratives. In critical studies of public health (and of development more broadly), "participation" has long been viewed with suspicion, partly because it has frequently been tethered to the idea that those who refuse to volunteer, or to self-motivate, can be dismissed as unworthy of the privileges of citizenship. The urban poor are increasingly called upon to prove their deservingness of services, from food aid to medical care. Participation, in other words, has been rightly seen in some places as an outgrowth of neoliberal austerity. In Venezuela, participation had a different valence. Chávez and those who supported his programs viewed it as a tool for un-doing austerity, not entrenching it. Readers will be aware that in the years since Chávez's death, pleasure has been in short supply in Venezuela. In her conclusion, however, Cooper forcefully argues that the excitement and energy she documented a decade ago were no anomaly. While she is clear-eyed about the failings of Chávez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, to deal with the collapse of the petroleum economy—as well as the ongoing efforts of embittered elites to undermine the Bolivarian project)—she suggests that even relatively short periods of collective pleasure have much to teach the rest of the world. Readers who have watched Venezuela descend into violence, starvation, and desperation might be pessimistic about the...

E&P Notes (July 2019)

Weatherford Plans Chapter 11 Restructuring Weatherford International is headed to bankruptcy court to try to slash its crushing debt load. The services company said it planned to file under Chapter 11, and announced that its senior creditors are expected to facilitate financing that will sustain operations during bankruptcy and afterward. The company’s statement on the planned filing said its operations are continuing and the bankruptcy process will have “no expected impact on customer, vendors, partners, or employees.” A company spokesman said the move was a “balance sheet restructuring to address the company’s debt burden,” and was not a restructuring of operations or a declaration of bankruptcy. Venezuela Oil Output Sinks to Lowest Level Since Early 2003 Crude oil production in Venezuela declined to its lowest level in more than 16 years in April, and the recent freefall could accelerate further as US sanctions-related deadlines pass. The politically and economically beleaguered country’s crude output averaged just 830,000 B/D in April, its lowest mark since January 2003, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The rate of decline shot up during the first quarter to 135,000 B/D/month, much higher than the 33,000 B/D/month drop observed during 2018. EIA forecasts Venezuela crude output to continue falling through at least year-end 2020. Eni Tallies Fifth Oil Discovery in Angola Deepwater Exploration Campaign Italian multinational firm Eni has made its fifth light-oil discovery on Block 15/06 in the deep waters off Angola through an exploration program it launched just last year. The Agidigbo-1 NFW well proved a single hydrocarbon column consisting of a 60-m gas cap and 100 m of light oil in Lower Miocene sandstones with good petrophysical properties, Eni said. Drilled by Seadrill’s West Gemini sixth-generation ultradeepwater drillship, the well reached TD of 3800 m in 275 m of water. Analysis of the results indicate between 300–400 million bbl of light oil in place, the operator said. ExxonMobil Moves Forward With Second Guyana Development ExxonMobil has made a final investment decision (FID) for the second development phase of the Liza field on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. Expected to start up in mid-2022, Liza Phase 2 will produce up to 220,000 B/D of oil. The major is proceeding with the project after receiving government and regulatory approvals. As with Liza Phase 1, the second phase will utilize a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will be named Liza Unity. Six drill centers are planned with a total of 30 wells, including 15 production wells, nine water injection wells, and six gas injection wells. The project is expected to cost $6 billion, including $1.6 billion for the FPSO, and will develop 600 million bbl of oil. UK Continental Shelf: Two Big Discoveries and More to Come The fortunes of the upstream industry on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) may be turning. Two big discoveries have been reported over the past 8 months and a gradual upturn in drilling is expected in the near term. First, Total in September announced its Glendronach find west of Shetland. The French operator encountered 42 m of net gas pay in a high-quality Lower Cretaceous reservoir. Recoverable resources are estimated at 175 million BOE. Then, in January, CNOOC said it made the play-opening Glengorm discovery, intersecting about 38 m of net gas and condensate pay in the Central North Sea. Recoverable resources there are estimated at 250 million BOE, which is the largest discovery on the UKCS in a decade. Total is also a partner in Glengorm. Shell Partners with Startup to Get a Better Taste of the Reservoir Wireline formation tests represent an oil and gas company’s first real taste of the reservoir’s prize, but they have a history of capturing nonrepresentative samples. For a solution, Shell is turning to a new software developer called Senslytics to see if it can make wireline formation testing more accurate and predictable. These tests involve sending a probe downhole to contact the exposed rock along the wellbore, then pumping reservoir fluids into the device to analyze their chemical composition. “The problem with this process is that when you’re engaged at such distance down below, you don’t know how long to sit there,” said Rabi Chakraborty, president of Senslytics.

2000년 이후 미국의 對 베네수엘라 석유 정책의 질적 고립과 양적 고립 정책

2000년 이후 미국의 對 베네수엘라 석유 정책의 질적 고립과 양적 고립 정책

Notes from the Editors, March 2019

buy this issue
 The present ongoing coup attempt organized in Washington is simply the latest in a series of such attempts by the U.S. government to overthrow the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela over the last two decades. It can be seen as having three interrelated motives: (1) the destruction of Venezuelan socialism, (2) regaining control of Venezuela's oil (the largest petroleum reserves in the world), and (3) reasserting U.S. hegemony over Latin America.

Venezuela Oil&Gas Industry a Look up into Oil & Gas Industrial History, Regimes, Problems and Opinions concerning Current State

The complexity inherent in operations in the oil and gas industry, from complicated upstream, midstream and downstream processes such as exploratory magnetic, gravimetric and seismic surveying for hydrocarbon-bearing rock formations, exploratory drilling of wells, appraisal of prospective fields, development, production, storage, transportation, refining, marketing and distribution of the hydrocarbons, followed by subsequent decommissioning and rehabilitation of the production installations over a lengthy period of time requires the devotion of a large influx of specialized human and capital resources. Venezuela as Gas and oil producing country is characterized as uniquely capital intensive as a result of the significant monetary support and economic activity required as investments to make endeavors technically and commercially successful. The importance of foreign investments in facilitating development in the hydrocarbon industry in its state, underscores the significance of the establishment of a stable, transparent and efficient legal regime for promoting and protecting these investments. This paper will analyze the history of Venezuela exploration, development and production of oil and gas including analysis of legal regime through an examination of the interplay between the different elements of national legislation, contractual agreements and international treaties and unique regimes compared to other countries. Finally ending up by giving opinion to the current 2019 situation and consequences including recommendation and new necessary adaptations.

Oil as Currency: Venezuela’s Petro, a New ‘Oil Pattern’?

The socio-economic and political crisis that has been wreaking havoc on oil rich Venezuela since 2010, coupled with low oil prices since 2015, has generated hyperinflation on an enormous scale, rising to 500,000% in September 2018, and likely to reach 1,000,000% by the end of 2018. In response to its economic woes and hyperinflation, on February 20, 2018 the Venezuelan ‘Petro’ was officially born. The Petro, Venezuela’s new government-backed ‘cryptocurrency’, is a financial instrument whose value is pegged to the Venezuelan oil barrel and which attempts to create an alternative to the traditional currency system. While the idea appears novel – or to put it in ‘Venezuelan’ terms, ‘revolutionary’ – it is not. The Petro is a public debt instrument structured as a ‘cryptocurrency’ backed up by Venezuelan oil reserves and whose ‘intrinsic value’ is allegedly based on the Venezuelan international oil basket price as discretionarily decided by the Venezuelan Executive, not on trust of the currency itself or its demand or supply. The Petro’s relationship to Venezuela oil assets is important for the energy community not only due to its implications concerning Venezuelan oil reserves and infrastructure, but more so because the modality of this new ‘currency’ might be replicated by other raw-material dependent countries. They might do so to ‘mortgage’ their natural reserves to obtain financing by the sale of a raw-material pegged cryptocurrency. Much uncertainty accompanies the Petro and for very good reason. Hence, the aim of this paper is to present an academic analysis of the Petro. We discuss a number of critical aspects of the Petro, including an examination and clarification of its legal status, the regulatory regime is it subject to, the nature of the Petro (a currency or a debt), its relation to the future of energy markets, and risks associated with this creative measure.

Experimental investigation on rheological property of foamy oil in Venezuela

ABSTRACTSome heavy oil reservoirs present foamy oil flow behavior under primary production, and the foamy oil viscosity and rheological property are important factors that influence the efficiency of the process. The variation of the foamy oil viscosity during the depletion process is complicated due to the generation and migration of dispersed gas bubbles within the oil phase, and still remains as a controversial topic. This study aims to investigate this issue by measuring the foamy oil viscosity at different pressure, temperature and flow rate with a capillary viscometer system equipped with a specially designed foamy oil generator to guarantee the generation and stable flow of gas-in-oil dispersions. Meanwhile, the dead oil and live oil viscosities were also measured for comparison. Based on the results from all the tests the following conclusions can be drawn. Below the bubble point pressure, the dispersed gas-bubble volume fraction and foamy oil viscosity increase with pressure decline; the viscosity of foamy oil is higher than that of live oil, and the gap between them widens with pressure decline. Moreover, foamy oil behaves as shear-thinning power-law fluid, and the shear-thinning effect becomes stronger with the decrease of pressure. The foamy oil rheology is also affected by temperature, and the shear-thinning effect becomes milder with the increase of temperature. Based on the experimental data, a formula was established for estimating foamy oil apparent viscosity within porous media, which took flow rate, shear-thinning flow parameters, permeability, porosity and other factors into consideration.

Code Red: Venezuela's Oil and Debt Crises

The economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela took a turn for the worse in the second half of 2017. Declines in oil production and exports are accelerating. The government has fallen behind in debt payments, past the grace period in several cases. This report summarizes some key takeaways from an expert workshop convened by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy to appraise these alarming developments.

Oil nationalisations as protracted affairs: evidence from Venezuela

AbstractEmpirical studies tend to treat oil nationalisations as basically discrete, sudden events, an approach that in some cases might be misleading and adds little to disentangle causality. On a contrary vein, we take a closer look at the 1970s nationalisation of Venezuela's oil industry and find evidence that this was a rather protracted affair, expanding over a 17‐year period. We argue that although the transfer of all assets to government hands was not completed until 1975, oil companies fully anticipated such move as early as 1958 and started to operate in a way compatible with a much shorter time horizon. Specifically, we use an estimate of the resource rent (defined as output price minus marginal extraction cost) to show a major shift in oil firms' implicit time horizon after 1958. Our results help to explain the rather weak causality link found in the data between oil nationalisations and price fluctuations.

Comments: Supply Growth

Editor's column The growth in US oil production led by the rise in unconventional supply is well under way, and similar growth in other regions could pave the way for great increases in global supply. A new global field-by-field study of oil investment suggests that world oil production capacity could grow to more than 110 million BOPD by 2020, an increase of 20% from today. Analysis of oil exploration and development projects around the world indicates that more than 49 million BOPD in additional production capacity could be gained by 2020. Taking into account risk factors and depletion rates, net additional production capacity is likely to increase by more than 17 million BOPD by 2020, the most capacity growth since the 1980s. The figures come from a report released in June by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School titled Oil: The Next Revolution. It was authored by Leonardo Maugeri, former ENI senior executive vice president of strategies and development. Leading the way in this new surge of production, in order, are Iraq, the US, Cana-da, Brazil, and Venezuela. And much of the production is unconventional—shale/tight oil in the US, pre-salt in Brazil, oil sands in Canada, and extra-heavy oil in Venezuela. The study predicts that four current major producing areas will show declines during the period: Norway, the UK, Iran, and Mexico. Other conclusions of the study include: The US will continue to see great gains in output from unconventional resources, thanks to “the technological revolution brought about by the combined use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” The states of North Dakota and Texas will see the largest growth in supply. These technologies used in shale also will be used to reopen and recover oil from conventional, established fields. “The United States could increase oil production by 3.5 million BOPD … making it the second largest oil producer in the world after Saudi Arabia.” Oil prices could collapse when these large volumes of oil hit the market, contradicting conventional wisdom that global supply will struggle to keep up with world demand. The report concludes that oil production capacity is growing so rapidly that it might outpace consumption. “The oil market will remain highly volatile until 2015 and prone to extreme movements in opposite directions. After 2015, however, most of the oil projects analyzed in the report will advance significantly.” Shifts in the supply/demand balance will affect geopolitics. The US could be producing 65% of its oil consumption needs domestically, becoming less dependent on Middle East countries. And while the US shale boom likely will not be easily replicated elsewhere, development of known and unknown unconventional resources globally “could be surprising,” says the report. The increase in unconventional oil development will lead to heightened environmental protection and regulation challenges. “Industry needs to develop technological solutions to minimize water use, minimize and report chemical use, and carefully monitor production sites,” says the report. “If such a collective effort by industry does not materialize, government may respond with more onerous regulation in the near future that could impact US shale oil production.”

Incorporating corporations: Anglo-US oil diplomacy and conflict over Venezuela, 1941–1943

Between 1941 and 1943 British and US policy-makers intervened in the Venezuelan Government's attempts to increase taxation of Venezuela's oil industry. British and US officials utilised their links with multinational oil companies in an attempt to steer negotiations and safeguard their, wartime and post-war, access to Venezuelan oil. Events in Venezuela saw the inception of a US foreign oil policy that reflected New Deal ideals and took inspiration from British oil diplomacy. However, the issue created conflict within the Anglo-US wartime alliance as events became imbued with wider tensions concerning Latin America and the international oil industry.

Oil in Venezuela: Triggering Conflicts or Ensuring Stability? A Historical Comparative Analysis

Contrary to the presumption of the resource curse hypothesis, the oil exporter Venezuela has long been one of the most stable and conflict‐free countries in Latin America. The article analyzes this deviant case by employing a context‐sensitive approach which shows that the link between oil and internal conflicts or stability cannot be understood without considering crucial resource‐specific and non‐resource‐specific contextual conditions. The findings of this in‐depth case study suggest that the interplay of the relatively high oil abundance per capita, the geographical location of the oil reserves, multidimensional redistribution policies, specific political–institutional settings, and behavioral patterns of political elites best explains the generally low level of violent conflicts in Venezuela. These findings are further confirmed by a diachronic comparative analysis undertaken in the second part of this article. It is demonstrated that temporary increases in low‐level violence can be explained by historical shifts relating to several of the outlined conditions.Contrario a la hipótesis de una maldición de los recursos naturales, la Venezuela exportadora de petróleo ha sido por mucho tiempo uno de los países más estables y libre de conflictos en América Latina. El artículo analiza este caso empleando un enfoque sensible al contexto, haciendo evidente que la relación entre el petróleo y los conflictos internos o la estabilidad no puede ser comprendida sin considerar condiciones cruciales en contextos dependientes e independientes de los recursos. Los hallazgos de este estudio exhaustivo sugieren que la interacción de una abundancia de petróleo per cápita relativamente alta, la ubicación geográfica de las reservas petroleras, políticas de redistribución multidimensional, una configuración político‐institucional específica y patrones de comportamiento de la élite política explican de una mejor manera los bajos niveles de conflictos violentos en Venezuela. Estos hallazgos son a su vez confirmados por un análisis comparativo diacrónico, realizado en la segunda parte de este artículo. Es demostrado que aumentos temporales en bajos niveles de violencia pueden ser explicados por cambios históricos relacionados con las condiciones previamente mencionadas.

Who Said the Cold War is Over? The political economy of strategic conflict between Venezuela and Colombia

The occasionally dangerous rivalry between Colombia and Venezuela can best be explained by the distinct developmental paths each has pursued since independence. Significant factors include the array of productive forces in each country (eg oil in Venezuela versus illicit drugs in Colombia), the role of geographical features in relation to social forces and state structure, the extent of institutionalised conflict-resolution mechanisms, and the localised effects of a changing world order. The epistemological aspect is key here, since both countries have strived in vain to achieve a modernist project, one that includes a stable state complete with the development of a sizeable middle class rather than populous extremes of poverty and extraordinary wealth, and the embrace of the nation-state as well as the cultivation of patriotism as the exclusive focus for political space and political identity. They have relied on an epistemic framework that emphasises binary thinking, zero-sum competition and absolutist conceptions of human nature upon which to construct political regimes. At either extreme of this 180 degree ideological spectrum the ideological battles between Colombia and Venezuela are the epitome of the infamous ‘storms in a children's paddling pool’ observed by Foucault in The Order of Things.

米州における超重質油開発

While it is becoming more and more difficult to find new conventional oil fields, the importance of extra-heavy oil in Venezuela and bitumen in Canada has been increasing. Recently, there were two remarkable events occurred in Orinoco development in Venezuela. One is the reserve evaluation project based on inter-government agreements. Some groups have created joint venture companies with PDVSA to enter into development phase after the reserve evaluation work. The other event was the first competitive bidding for Carabobo area development. Two projects were awarded as a result of the bidding process including the project led by Chevron with the participation of JOGMEC, Mitsubishi Corporation and INPEX Corporation. Orinoco development has an advantage over oil sand development in Canada in terms of lower production cost because cold production is the standard method due to relatively low viscosity of oil. However, the severe and unstable investment climate in Venezuela is making it difficult for foreign oil companies to invest in big projects. The development of oil sand in Canada will grow steadily if high oil price continues and appropriate measures are taken to minimize environmental impacts such as carbon dioxide emission, land damage and byproduct disposal. The development of extra-heavy oil in Orinoco, Venezuela can be called as “Frontier” even though certain improvements in investment environment are required to encourage new project startups.