Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez held a landmark speech to Venezuela's National Assembly a few weeks ago, in which he outlined how the state-owned oil company PDVSA has become a new company and what was wrong with the old PDVSA.
July 24th 2004, by Gregory Wilpert – Venezuelanalysis.com
Ali Rodriguez, the president of Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA talks about last year's sabotage of the industry, PetroSur, oil for Euros, OPEC, oil industry funded social programs, and worker self-management.
Perhaps the most important thing to know about Venezuela is that it is an oil exporting country, the fifth largest in the world, with the largest reserves of conventional oil (light and heavy crude) in the western hemisphere and the largest reserves of non-conventional oil (extra-heavy crude) in the world. This fact is of immense importance to understanding Venezuela because it has shaped practically every aspect of the country, its history, its economy, its politics, and its culture. In what follows I will provide a brief history of Venezuela’s oil industry.
