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ConocoPhillips: Arbitration court rules Venezuela seizure unlawful
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/energy-ticker/2013/09/04/conocophillips-arbitration-court-rules-venezuela-seizure-unlawful/In the early 1990s, ConocoPhillips helped develop the Petrozuata and Hamaca projects in the Orinoco heavy-crude belt, and the offshore Corocoro project in Venezuela with “substantial long-term investments,” the company said.
Venezuela’s then President Hugo Chavez forced multinational oil producers to form joint ventures as minority partners. ConocoPhillips took an impairment of about $4.5 billion in 2007 related to the case, analysts at Simmons & Co. said.
“We welcome this decision by the Tribunal,” Janet Langford Kelly, senior vice president, legal, general counsel and corporate secretary at ConocoPhillips, said in a statement. “This ruling sends a clear message that countries cannot expropriate their investments without fair compensation.”
The case is not closed: the arbitration process will continue in order to determine how much is owed to ConocoPhillips, the company said.
