ConocoPhillips Still in Talks on Venezuela Compensation

U.S. energy major ConocoPhillips (COP) said Wednesday it still was in discussions with Venezuela over compensation for stakes in crude-oil projects it ceded to the state-owned oil company there.

“We continue negotiations with the Venezuela government concerning appropriate compensation for the expropriation of the company’s oil projects and have preserved all legal rights, including international arbitration,” ConocoPhillips said in a press release disclosing second-quarter earnings.


Conoco Chief Executive Jim Mulva, addressing analysts on a conference call, declined to engage a discussion on how the company might follow through on an arbitration case, a plan it has discussed as a possibility. Mulva said the “overriding thrust” of company efforts now is to reach an agreement and that he won’t comment further out of “sensitivity” to that process.

Conoco ultimately decided to leave Venezuela, because it concluded it could earn a better return for shareholders by seeking compensation than by agreeing to the new terms sought under President Chavez, Mulva said. The company earned $93 million in profits in Venezuela in the second quarter, he added.

Dow Jones Newswires