Desarrollo energético en América Latina y la economía mundial

DESARROLLO ENERGÉTICO EN AMÉRICA LATI:>:A y LA ECONOMIA MUNDIAL It was not until this decade that oil-produdng countries started to coordinate their pricing policies. Before the 1971 Tehran Agreement, the crucial decisions that relate to the oil industry, namely prices and output volumes, were under the sole control of the multinational oH corporations. These majors were always active in trying to integrate oil from various sources into their global operations. The primary criterion, of course, was profit maximization on the totality of their integrated operations. During World W'ar n, it became clear that the United States would not be capable of continuing its role as the major oiI.exporting country in the world and that the oil re.source of the Middle East had to be developed to provide the necessary energy for the postwar eco– nomic development and growth of the industrialized economies. And since oil had become the principal source oC income and wealth in the oil producing countries, it followed that their economic and polítical existence depended upon the rate and terms on which oil was produced. A major corollary of this was the fact that the internal ,economic development and political stability of these counmes depended in good measure upon the operating policies of the oil companies 2 • The concession agreements system. Historically each oil producing country had to deal individuaIly with oil companies operating in its territories regarding various aspects of the oil sector. It is a fact that once an oil concession had been obtai– ned, a host government had no control over the development of oil resources nor over the price at which oi! was soldo Its role was confined to a mere recipient of a certain stipulated sum of money per unit of output. The main features of the concessions may be summarized as follows: 1) the duration of the concessions extended over several decades; 2) the concessions covered either most of the territory of the state or the state's entire territory; 3) in return for these privileges the govern– ments were, as mentioned earlier, the recipients of a fixed amount of revenue per unit oI output. Given the asymmetry in bargaining power and knowledge and the 'See, for example, Subcommittee on MuItinational Corporations of the Commi· ttee on Foreign Relations (U, S. Senate), Multinational Oil Corporations and U. S. Foreign Poliey (Washington, 1975). This work will be cited heneeforth as Oil and U. S. Fardgn Poliey. 28