Resumen

ESPINASA, Ramón. The Rise and Fall of the State Oil Company in Venezuela. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2006, vol.12, n.1, pp.147-182. ISSN 20030507.

The resolution of the tension inherent in any extractive activity between the owner of the natural resource and the operating company for the control of the production and distribution of the rent has set the pace of the contemporary evolution of the Venezuelan oil sector. First growing control and distributive tension between the Venezuelan State and foreign operating companies led nationalization and State control of oil production. After nationalization tension between the resource owner and the operating company developed within the Venezuelan State, between the Government, represented by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and Pdvsa. The growing tension these two actors, particularly after 1999, was resolved with the Government assuming the discretionary distribution of oil revenue and production. The high degree of independence and managerial autonomy, enjoyed by Pdvsa by institutional design since its inception, came to an end. This article is divided into two parts. The first part describes the dynamics of the Venezuelan oil sector throughout the two processes that would end up, the first one in the collapse of production as from 1970 and the nationalization of the oil industry in 1976. The second process would entail the collapse of production beginning 1999 and the institutional destruction of Pdvsa in 2003. The second part focuses on the performance of the oil sector in the period 1989-2004. The 1990s witnessed the period of largest expansion and diversification of Pdvsa up to 1998, but it collapsed afterwards, making this period particularly important. Particular analytical effort will be put into the relationship between oil revenue distribution, investment and production growth. The political process described in the first part will be the framework for the more quantitative analysis of the second.

Palabras clave : Oil; Oil Industry; Nationalization; Distribution of Revenue; Investments; Growth; Venezuela.