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In the 1920s the Standard Oil Company faced the hostility of the left-wing Mexican Revolutionary government, which eventually expropriated the company's properties in 1938. As nationalist rhetoric increased before 1938 in Mexico, Standard Oil explored new fields in Colombia, a country ruled by the foreign- business-friendly, right-wing Conservative Party. The Colombian Conservative Party had given very generous concessions to foreign multinationals, and Standard wanted to couple this political climate with the potential of the Colombian oil fields. In contrast with Mexico, during the first three decades of the twentieth-century, Colombia had enjoyed remarkable political stability. Escaping from nationalism in Mexico, however, Standard Oil faced a different kind of nationalism in Colombia, as the Conservative government ceded to the pressure of the opposition union-friendly Liberal Party's demands. Finally, the right-wing government of Venezuela showed to be the friendliest one towards Standard. However, the company did not trust the stability of the dictatorship and off-shored its refining activities. The paper compares Standard Oil's reaction to growing nationalism in two different political environments, and the way this affected its corporate strategy in both countries. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]