Venezuela owes COP $8.7B for seized oil projects

摘要

On March 8, the World Bank Group's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes ruled that Venezuela must pay US upstream firm ConocoPhillips(COP)roughly $8.7B in compensation for the seizure of Venezuelan oil assets owned by COP in 2007. As per the ruling, Venezuela must pay nearly $4.5B to compensate for the seizure of COP's Hamaca project, and nearly $3.4B for the seizure of its Petrozuata project. In addition to those two heavy oil projects, the tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay over $562MM in additional compensation for the seizure of COP's Corocoro projects in the southwestern Gulf of Paria. It is unclear how US sanctions on PDVSA will impact this ruling. A spokesperson for COP, Daren Beaudo, stated by email, “It's too early for us to speculate on when we might recover from Venezuela. The company will pursue all legal avenues to obtain full recovery of the award.”