Exxon was awarded a $77 million claim against Venezuela

(Bloomberg) — A World Bank arbitration court has awarded $77 million to Exxon Mobil Corp. In a re-filed $1.4 billion lawsuit over the nationalization of Venezuela’s Cerro Negro and La Ceiba crude oil projects in 2007.

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The award is the result of a lengthy legal battle that ended when the International Center for International Dispute Settlement determined on July 10 that most of the $984.5 million in compensation awarded to Exxon had already been paid in a separate claim with the International Chamber of Commerce, resulting in Exxon receiving $907.5 million in 2008. 2011.

If Exxon wants to get the full amount it is asking from Venezuela, it must return what it previously received, according to a copy of the award document seen by Bloomberg.

That would leave $76.9 million for the Texas-based firm, plus just over $1 million to cover part of its legal expenses. A press official at the center said that the award is not public because it requires the consent of both parties to be published.

Read more: World Bank Court Annuls $1.4 Billion Venezuela-Exxon Prize

Exxon said it would not comment on the specifics of the award, but “overall, the ICSID has ruled in our favor,” Exxon spokesman Todd Spittler said in an email.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The amount of initial compensation awarded to Exxon was challenged by ICSID in 2017 when it partially overturned an earlier ruling that had ordered Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion. The court stated at the time that the compensation was not calculated under applicable law, among other things. Exxon reintroduced the claim one year later.

Exxon was the first international oil company to abandon Venezuela after the late President Hugo Chavez nationalized its oil assets a decade ago.

ConocoPhillips, which sued arbitration to forfeit its assets in Hamaca and Petrozuata in 2007, may soon see a portion of the proceeds. The company is among the largest creditors to receive a paycheck when shares of parent Citgo Petroleum Corp. are sold at auction in October.

– With the help of Kevin Crowley.

(Updates with information on Conoco’s claim in the ninth paragraph. An earlier version of this story corrected the amount of compensation previously awarded to Exxon.)