Oil Comes to the Curaçao Islands

Abstract

As early as 1907, the Castro regime had given the British a concession to search for oil in Venezuela. Its successor, the government of Juan Vicente Gómez, betting on oil to alleviate the country’s financial problems, freely handed out more concessions, making sure, in the process, that the national treasury cashed in on the demand while Gómez’ own pockets were properly lined. In due time, the Dutch-British SHELL, in combination with the General Asphalt Company of the United States, requested permission to exploit the rich oil-fields in the Maracaibo region. Armed with a “fifty-fifty” concession signed by President Gomez — fifty per cent of the profits were to be spent in the country — the new merger was on the look-out for a place to refine the oil it would drill in Venezuela. That country itself did not seem to be suitable, mainly because of its internal turmoil, but also due to the poor facilities characterizing all Venezuelan ports as well as their malarial climate. The Curaçao islands, especially the big one, seemed to provide the answer, in spite of insufficient water and a shortage of experienced laborers. More crucially, the colonial government vouchsafed political stability and the islands had a milder, healthier climate. The distance from Willemstad to Maracaibo was little more than 200 miles. From Curaçao transportation to the most important buyers of refined oil, Europe and the United States, was no problem: Curaçao was 800 miles closer to Europe than Houston, also under consideration, and 200 miles closer to New York.