A U.S. court upheld a tribunal’s $8.75 billion award to U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips (COP.N) over the expropriation of its Venezuelan oil assets, granting a default judgment in the case on Friday.
By Reuters – Gary McWilliams
Aug 22, 2022
The decision gives the U.S. company new authority to collect on a 2019 award by a World Bank tribunal. The award includes interest that adds at least $1 billion to the amount owed to Conoco.
The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes awarded Conoco $8.75 billion over the 2007 expropriation of three of its oil projects in the country. Conoco had sought up to $30 billion for the takeover.
Venezuela’s government rejected the court’s decision in a statement issued by the president’s office on Monday evening, saying the country would continue to take legal action to “preserve its patrimony.”
“This unfair decision has been forged by violating… Venezuela’s right to defense,” the statement said.
It added that the decision was in “complicity with Venezuelan extremists, including (opposition leader) Juan Guaido.”
Guaido didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Venezuela seized Conoco assets during late President Hugo Chavez’s nationalizations of oil, electricity and steel industries.
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