ABSTRACT
During the rest of 1982 and in 1983 the country suffered an economic and financial crisis that was unparalleled in its recent history. Oil was essentially the focal point of the whole state project, and because of the politi-cal and bureaucratic tug-of-war between the various groups interested in promoting their particular view of economic policy, policy formulation and implementation and energy planning took on a character all of its own. The 1980 energy program was the first of its kind in the country and was largely a product of the confrontation between two opposing views of development. The all-encompassing nature of Global Development Plan, whose scope was designed to reach all the main areas of economic activity, also took into account a series of basic guidelines related to different aspects of the energy sector. These guidelines were, in fact, a forerunner of the energy program introduced in November 1980.
