Good Guest

"A talk with Mr. Proudfit," said Caracas' La Esfera, "is full of references to Venezuela. This country is a fundamental part of his being, anonymously present in every gesture and word." Last week, after 25 years in Venezuela, Creole Petroleum Corp.'s President Arthur T. Proudfit boarded ship for New York, where he will become a director of Creole's parent company, Standard Oil of New Jersey.

Behind him, Oilman Proudfit left an organization that in 33 years had pumped $1 billion in investments into Venezuelan oil, in return had pumped out as much as $500 million a year of black crude. Creole has helped make Venezuela the second wealthiest nation per capita in Latin America. From Lake Maracaibo to the Orinoco delta, thousands of houses, schools, hospitals and churches have been built for Creole's employees, 94% of whom are Venezuelan.

Most Venezuelans, if asked to name one man responsible for the spectacular harmony between their nation and the foreign-owned companies that pump its oil, would point to bald 56-year-old Art Proudfit. "Venezuela," he once said, "is my own true land, in my affections and daily life."

Creole reflected Proudfit's affection and respect for Venezuelans by hiring nearly 20% more nationals than the law required, by training them for skilled labor and management jobs and paying them as much as U.S. employees, and by introducing sweeping company health measures. In 1948 he recognized the threat of nationalization, avoided it by agreeing (and persuading other oil companies to agree) to at least a 50-50 split in profits with the government; this now nets Venezuela $230 million a year.

Before leaving Caracas, self-effacing Oilman Proudfit was awarded the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the Liberator, Venezuela's highest nonpolitical award to a foreign civilian. Said Foreign Minister Dr. Aureliano Otanez: "You are the best ambassador that the U.S. has ever sent to Venezuela."

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