Regulatory framework for attracting foreign investment in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector

The article analyzes the impact of the regulatory framework in the oil and gas sector of Venezuela. There are several factors affecting the volume and price of petroleum products in the world: investments in exploration and production of resources, the volume and depletion of reserves; political and economic crises in oil-producing countries; the creation of new technologies and much more, including state regulation of the oil and gas industry. Sometimes there are circumstances, the consequences of which are not thought. For example, Latin America has changed markedly since it began to use oil as a political tool. But, by the beginning of 2016, prices are falling: production volumes are high, and consumption is declining. There are several reasons: the decline in growth in developing countries; slow recovery of European countries after the European economic crisis; an increase in energy efficiency. To understand these changes in oil activities, it is necessary to examine the national and international legal framework. The regulatory framework in Latin America differs significantly from the American framework (the starting point is the type of subsoil ownership, i.e. in South America, subsoil is owned by the state by colonial heritage, and in the United States by private individuals). Thus, the subject of the study is the legal framework of Venezuela, a country with its own historical features, peculiar views on national security and ideological views on the role of the state. Venezuela will be considered, as the country is one of the major producing countries in Latin America; oil is the main element of the economy; a large number of regulatory models have been tested. The evolution of its activities is an excellent example of different approaches to the management of the oil industry.