Brian S. McBeth

Brian McBeth trained as an economist and holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies and a doctorate in Politics from the University of Oxford. He is a former director of Schroder Securities Ltd. who worked in the City of London until 2008 specialising in oil companies. He has written extensively on oil, privatization and Venezuela over the years. His books include Juan Vicente Gómez and the Oil Companies in Venezuela, 1908-1935 (1983); British Oil Policy, 1919-1939 (1985); Petroleum in Venezuela A bibliography (1985 together with William M Sullivan); Venezuela. The Way Forward (1994); Global Privatizations: A Strategic Report (1996); Gunboats, Corruption and Claim: Foreign Intervention in Venezuela, 1899-1908 (2001); Dictatorship & Politics: Intrigue, Betrayal and Survival in Venezuela, 1908 – 1935 (2008); and La Política Petrolera Venezolana: Una perspectiva histórica, 1922-2005 (2015). He is also the co-author of Colombia (1993). McBeth has published a number of papers and book reviews in the The Hispanic American Historical Review, The Historian, Nueva Economía (Caracas), Revista de Historia Económica/Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, LatinFinance, Pipeline, Bulletin of Latin American Research, Tierra Firme (Caracas), and the Journal of Latin American Studies. McBeth also contributed to the investigation into ‘Scientific Publications: Free for all?, of the House of Commons, Select Committee on Science and Technology with his submission ‘Memorandum from Dr Brian Stuart McBeth’ (HMSO, 20 July 2004, Appendix 116, EV 421.) McBeth has also had letters published in the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, the Guardian and The Wall Street Journal. McBeth is currently working on a major study on the 1943 Venezuelan oil law as well as a separate study on the Venezuelan oil concessionaires during the Gómez dictatorship. He is an Affiliate Member of the Latin American Centre and a Senior Common Room Member of St Antony’s College, University of Oxford