Oil and Politics in Latin America

This book provides a study of the transformation of the Latin American oil system from one in which the international oil companies dominated to one which is dominated by the main state oil companies, and an account of how some of the more important of the state companies have operated. This comprehensive guide to the evolution of the Latin American oil system combines in one volume a synthesis of material from secondary sources and original research and thus provides an invaluable reference for all concerned with the history and economy of Latin America and with the development and functioning of the international oil industry.

This book provides a study of the transformation of the Latin American oil system from one in which the international oil companies dominated to one which is dominated by the main state oil companies, and an account of how some of the more important of the state companies have operated.

List of tables; Preface; Glossary; Abbreviations; Note on currencies and other units of measurement; Maps; Introduction; Part I. The World Oil Environment: 1. The corporate ascendancy 1890¿1927; 2. Retrenchment and concentration 1928¿41; 3. The making of the post-war oil world 1942¿55; 4. The major companies in retreat 1955¿70; 5. The oil market revolution and its consequences for Latin America 1971¿9; 6. Latin America in the twentieth-century oil system; Part II. The Major Expropriations: 7. Politics and the concession contract; 8. Argentina: YPF, Yrigoyen and the 1935 oil law; 9. Some nationalisations of the 1930s: Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia; 10. Cárdenas and the Mexican oil nationalisation; 11. The formation of Petrobrás; 12. The nationalisation of the IPC in Peru; 13. The nationalisation of Gulf Oil in Bolivia 1969; 14. Oil politics in Ecuador 1972¿6; 15. The nationalisation of oil in Venezuela; 16. Oil companies and governments in twentieth-century Latin America; Part I of Gulf Oil in Bolivia 1969; 14. Oil politics in Ecuador 1972¿6; 15. The nationalisation of oil in Venezuela; 16. Oil companies and governments in twentieth-century Latin America; Part III. The State Oil Companies: 17. Pemex in Mexican politics 1938¿79; 18. The development of Petrobrás: oil company to conglomerate?; 19. YPF 1932¿79: public enterprise or bureaucracy?; 20. Petroperú 1968¿80: achievements and hard lessons; 21. YPFB and the development of oil in Bolivia; 22. Petrovén: the birth of a giant; 23. State oil companies in Latin America; 24. Concluding reflections; Notes; Bibliography; Index.