On Tuesday, Venezuelan officials announced that Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips will abandon their lucrative oil projects in eastern Venezuela rather than sign a new contract ceding control of their operations over to state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela. The announcement signalled a victory for Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s staunchly anti-American president.
In February, Chavez announced that all six foreign companies extracting oil from Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt region had until June 26 to agree to a new contract that would transfer majority ownership and operating control to himself. Whether the six foreign companies agreed or not, he later said, he was “taking over the [oil] fields,” according to the Los Angeles Times (June 27).
