A DECADE ago, Venezuela abandoned its previous policy of
restricting oil output to force higher prices, and threw its
state-owned oil industry open to investment by multinationals.
Under Hugo Chávez, a socialist, it is moving back, step by step,
to the original policy.  On April 1st, the government took over
two small fields, one operated by Eni of Italy and the other by
France's Total, after they had jibbed at new contracts.
Hitherto, a score of private firms ran 32 “marginal” fields
under operating agreements, selling output of 500,000 barrels
per day (b/d) to Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state-owned
giant. From now on they will be minority partners in joint
ventures with PDVSA.  “We have buried that perversion that was
the oil opening,” crowed Mr Chávez. “Anyone who doesn't like
that can go elsewhere.” Most of the multinationals are not
leaving—at least not yet. Exxon Mobil rejected the switch, and
sold an interest in a field to Spain's Repsol. Norway's Statoil
and Repsol itself concluded that some