Resource sovereignty without institutional competence is an illusion

Sep 15, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

(Kaieteur News) – In his column, entitled, “Sovereignty in the Age of Oil” Chris Ram, in making the argument that storage, a refinery and even a national oil company could improve energy security without giving Guyana effective control over production, technology, capital, markets or the geopolitical forces surrounding its petroleum, pointed to the case of Venezuela.

He wrote, “We need look no further than Venezuela for the clearest warning. It nationalized its petroleum industry and possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, yet the United States showed through raw power and its influence over the critical elements of the petroleum sector, technology, finance, shipping, insurance and markets that legal ownership does not guarantee the ability to produce and sell oil. Washington did not need to own the wells; power over the systems surrounding them was enough.”