Law Commons^™

The Transition From Private To Public Control In The Venezuelan Petroleum Industry, Felix P. Rossi-Guerrero

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Oil was discovered in Venezuela in 1914. The Zumaque No. 1 well on eastern Lake Maracaibo was Venezuela's first commercial discovery. The beginning of the First World War, however, delayed exploration and it was not until 1922 that a well being drilled in La Rosa, in the state of Zulia, blew out of control sending oil 200 feet into the air and spreading oil all around at a rate of some 100,000 barrels daily for nine days. The world took notice of Los Barrosos No. 2, and the Bolivar Coastal Field--one of the three or four largest oil fields in …

New Directions In The Search For And Development Of Petroleum Resources In The Developing Countries, Hasan S. Zakariya

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The developing countries have several things in common. They share, to a large extent, similar political and socio-economic backgrounds, strive to overcome similar problems, and aspire to achieve the same goals of social progress and economic welfare. Hence, the importance of coordination of their efforts towards their common objectives can hardly be overemphasized.

In order to avoid the mistakes of the past and emulate the positive gains of the present, the developing countries, in searching for and developing their petroleum resources, can and must learn a great deal from each other. The experience of some of them has been long, …

Government And Private Enterprise In Latin American Petroleum Development, Frank M. Lacey

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry on January 1, 1976, can be viewed in a sense as a culmination of more than half a century of striving on the part of Latin American republics to become the masters of their own most important resources, one that has seemed at times symbolic of their very destinies. It is a process that has involved nearly every major country in Latin America. It is one that has been resisted by the prevailing economic, political, and legal institutions, and in the course of which not only major business enterprises but nations as well …

Latin America: A Petroleum Profile, Ewell E. Murphy, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Argentina--Mixed. Under present legislation (Hydrocarbons Law 17,319 of June 23, 1967) specified geographical areas are reserved to state enterprises and the remainder of the country is, in principle, open to private enterprise under a system of exploration permits and exploitation concessions. No permits or concessions have been granted to private enterprise for some time, however. There are pending legislative amendments which would reestablish the monopoly of Y.P.F. over all phases of the oil industry but permit private enterprise to operate under work or service contracts with Y.P.F.

Oil Operations In Latin America: The Future Of Private Enterprise, Ewell E. Murphy, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

We live in tumultuous times. Whether measured on a scale of millennia, of centuries, or of generations, our lifetime's segment of the graph of world history is marking giddy ascents, harrowing declines, and abrupt, unbridgeable discontinuities.

On a millennial scale we are entering the twilight of those five astounding centuries of Western leadership that began with the Renaissance. The flags of empire, long banished from the Americas, have now been struck in Asia and Africa as well, and flutter quaintly over only a dwindling handful of enclaves and outposts. Islam has awakened from her sleep of seven hundred years and …

The United States Government Perspective On Expropriation And Investment In Developing Countries, Richard J. Smith

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The title for my presentation given in your program clearly covers two major subjects, either of which would make an ambitious topic for the relatively brief presentation I intend to make today. Therefore, for the half-hour or so that I will talk before we get into the more important and valuable exchange of ideas and discussion to follow, I have made the decision, which I hope you will agree is sensible, to deal mostly with the subject I know more about--the protection of United States private interests abroad.

But just so no one asks for his money back, let me …

Historical Perspectives And New Directions In The Exploitation Of Latin American Petroleum Resources, Henry B. Steele

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This paper constitutes an attempt, in a very brief compass, to provide an historical survey of the traditional roles of government and private enterprise in the exploitation of Latin American petroleum resources, to evaluate the current situation, and to speculate in a limited manner on the future implications of present developments. The basic analytical frame of reference is that of economics, but since the petroleum industry is a world industry, developments in the Latin American petroleum industry must be placed in the wider context of world oil industry economics and politics. From the standpoint of economic analysis, the major conflict …

The Development Of Peruvian Law For Petroleum Subcontractors, Stanley F. Rose

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru under the leadership of General Juan Velasco Alvarado assumed the government of Peru on October 3, 1968. One reason given for the assumption of power was that Peruvian interests had been severely damaged in the Act of Talara of August 13, 1968. After nullifying the Act of Talara, the Government expropriated the International Petroleum Company (IPC) refinery in Talara. As revealed in 1974 by the publication of the Revolutionary Government's plan of strategy, "Plan Inca," the Peruvian military had a clear idea of what it believed the situation of the Peruvian …