Exxon wins $12b freeze on Venezuela assets

NEW YORK – Exxon Mobil Corp. has secured court orders to freeze more than $12 billion in worldwide assets of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, as it prepares to dispute the nationalization of a multi-billion dollar oil project.

The move limits Petroleos de Venezuela’s room to maneuver as it fends off challenges from major Western oil companies over President Hugo Chavez’s 2007 decision to nationalize four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco Basin, one of the richest oil deposits in the world.



Exxon and ConocoPhillips opted to walk away from the contracts rather than stay on in a minority role. Both have filed arbitration proceedings with the World Bank seeking compensation and Conoco “continues to discuss an amicable resolution specific to the assets that were expropriated in Venezuela,” Conoco spokesman Bill Tanner said.

ExxonMobil has so far been the most aggressive in fighting back. The Irving, Texas-based oil major’s legal action essentially seeks to ring-fence Venezuelan assets ahead of any decision by the arbitration panel.

AP