According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary , the word "exploitation" can carry two distinct meanings. The first is the "use or utilization, esp. for profit, e.g. the exploitation of newly discovered oil fields" . The second is "selfish utilization, e.g. He got ahead through the exploitation of his friends." As the first definition suggests, "exploitation" carries a specific meaning in the oil industry. In short, it means to extract oil reserves and is contrasted with "exploration", the preceding search for said reserves. An AP story out today about negotiations between oil giant ConocoPhillips and the government of Venezuela embodies all of these meanings. In short, an old idiomatic expression is literally and figurative appropriate here: Venezuela has ConocoPhillips over a barrel- actually several million of them:

ConocoPhillips held last-minute negotiations with President Hugo Chavez's government before Tuesday's deadline to decide whether to accept tougher terms or give up on Venezuelan oil. Most of the five other major energy companies involved appeared likely to accept the government's terms and sign deals Tuesday formally reducing their ownership positions to minority stakes in state-run joint ventures to keep pumping heavy crude in the lucrative Orinoco River basin. Venezuela is taking at least 60 percent of each Orinoco venture, and gave the companies until Tuesday to negotiate the terms of their remaining stakes. Chavez's government already took over operational control of Venezuela's last privately run oil fields on May 1 as part of its nationalization drive. ConocoPhillips is the third-largest U.S. oil company, and its Venezuelan projects account for about 4 percent of the company's daily global oil and gas production. It is the only major firm in Venezuela that has not agreed in principle to state control. Venezuela has claimed that foreign oil companies owe billions of dollars in back taxes related to oil projects.

So, Venezuela feels exploited by those it allowed to exploit its resources. One of those exploiters is thinking about pulling up stakes, of pulling out of the country. This should be called "Exploit Us, Interrupt Us."