Exxon Wins Freeze on $12 Billion in Venezuela Assets

[bijou]

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. won court orders in the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands and the Caribbean freezing more than $12 billion in Venezuelan assets amid a battle over the government's seizure of oil projects.

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, sought the orders on concern the Venezuelan state oil company will shift assets to other Latin American countries and China to put them out of reach of an international arbitration commission, the company said in a U.K. court filing.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil company known as PDVSA, seized joint ventures with foreign energy companies last year as part of President Hugo Chavez's program to bolster government control of Venezuela's resources. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips abandoned the projects rather than accept reduced roles and profits.

``Exxon sank so much money into that and they should be compensated appropriately, instead of the sham the Venezuelans have offered,'' said Barry James, who manages $2 billion, including Exxon Mobil shares, as president of James Investment Research in Xenia, Ohio. ``I wish them luck.''

...

link

Glad to see Exxon fighting back.  Chavez may regret his rash actions.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Somebody needs to port this over to DU.

[bijou]

Somebody needs to port this over to DU.

If only my mole had enough posts under its belt. 

[Lacarnut]

This should piss off the mass-a-holes in New England. Chavez thought he could nationalize the oil industry and that Exxon would forget about those billions of equipment they were forced to leave behind. Sweet justice for this commie.