ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the motivations of a firm for pursuing the internationalisation of its operations are various. The fact that Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) was the government’s most important source of revenues posed a clear constraint to the industry’s attempts to extend and consolidate its international operations. Furthermore, the company’s international expansion threatened the government’s ability to exert close control over the company’s performance and policy choices. The attempts to reconcile both its roles as State-owned enterprise and as oil Multinational have created a clear dilemma for the industry, a situation that has often exacerbated its interaction with the executive and Congress. The oil industry could become the undisputed policy actor within government policy-making processes, imbuing most policy decisions with the technical features inherent in corporate strategies. The action of politics and of constantly evolving political arrangements exerted a clear influence on PDVSA’s internationalisation strategy.
