ABSTRACT

To understand Venezuelan oil policy it is necessary to differentiate two aspects of the generic term “oil”: oil as a productive activity and oil as a source of rent. Capital, labor and land are the three factors of production that come into play in the production of oil. The first two factors of production form what we shall refer to as the productive activity; the latter, land or the natural resource, has historically been responsible for oil as a source of rent. Since oil deposits are state property in Venezuela, oil as a source of rent was first the responsibility of the Ministry of Development. However, given the extraordinary importance oil has acquired as a source of rent, a new ministry was created: the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons—today Energy and Mines.