Bad day for Venezuela, and for former president Hugo Chavez’s legacy: A massive power outage cut off electricity for almost 70% of the country’s population yesterday. “A lack of investment and training in the electric grid has contributed to more than 500 blackouts registered in Venezuela as of June this year.” [Christian Science Monitor]

And the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has ruled in ConocoPhillips’ favor in a dispute with Venezuela over Chavez’s seizure of the company’s oil assets in the country in 2007. “The South American nation’s actions amounted to an unlawful expropriation.” [Bloomberg]

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to rewrite a rule that would have required oil and gas companies to disclose payment to foreign governments in exchange for mineral rights. The disclosure rule, mandated by Congress as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, prompted a lawsuit by industry group the American Petroleum Institute. “The agency’s decision does not mean the congressionally mandated requirement will go away — or even that a second version will steer clear of the oil and gas industry’s concerns.” [Fuel Fix]

The Economist buried a really interesting (and perhaps underexplored) tidbit near the bottom of a story about Syria’s actual impact, or lack thereof, on oil prices. Emerging markets are already under pressure, and a price hike could worsen the situation for big oil importers. “A sustained surge in the oil price would come at a very bad time for some emerging markets…India buys over 3m barrels a day; Turkey imports 0.5m. For countries like these, higher oil prices would lead to a worsening of their trade balances at a time when investors are already nervous.”  [The Economist]