Lukoil learns the hard way

Lukoil_logo_albom_170512Andrei Kuzyayev, an executive of Russian oil giant Lukoil, told Reuters last week that Venezuela could boost its oil production in the next few years, but to do so needs “…a quiet situation, stability in contracts and a good situation for investment”.

Days later, Oil Minister/PDVSA President/Head of Mobilization for the Maduro Campaign Rafael Ramírez ordered Lukoil to be “left out of the country” until  Kuzyayev’s “regrettable” remarks were clarified, warning that “nobody will dictate our oil policy”.

Stability in contracts? Good environment for investment? Asking for such things in the Chabolivarian Republic amounts to destabilization, even if you come from an allied country. Lukoil should’ve taken a page from fellow Russian oil company Rosneft, which is shrewdly keeping quiet.