EL UNIVERSAL

Venezuela Tuesday obtained a significant victory in its legal dispute against US oil major Exxon Mobil, as the England and Wales High Court decided to overturn an order freezing USD 12 billion in state-run oil firm Pdvsa's assets outside of Venezuela.

"I have decided that the court order" to freeze Pdvsa assets worldwide -which was issued last February 24 at the request of Exxon Mobil- "must be revoked," Paul Walker, the judge hearing the case, said in court.

The annulment is effective immediately, the judge said at the end of the hearing on the case, which started last February 28 in London-based England and Wales High Court.

"This is the beginning of the end of Exxon Mobil's campaign of harassment against Pdvsa and Venezuela," Samuel Moncada, Venezuelan Ambassador in London, told AFP, adding he was "very pleased" at the ruling.

Venezuela's victory is even more overwhelming as Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, is not challenging the decision, said one of Pdvsa's lawyers, Gordon Pollock.

"The England and Wales Court has refused to be used as an Exxon Mobil's tool against Venezuela," said the Venezuelan Ambassador.

The London-based court last January 24 issued an order to freeze up to USD 12 billion in Pdvsa assets "to secure" payment of compensation to Exxon Mobil, after President Hugo Chávez's government moved to nationalize the US firm's assets in heavy-crude oil Orinoco belt.

"The judge's ruling is good news not only for Venezuela, but also for small countries with natural resources, as the court said Venezuela was right, thus acknowledging the country's sovereignty over its resources," Moncada added.

"Additionally, the British court decision to reject the misuse of the legal means to settle trade issues should be a lesson for everybody," the Venezuelan diplomat stressed. He praised the fact that the ruling meant "a defeat for Exxon Mobil's maneuvers of judicial terrorism."

Meanwhile, Pdvsa's lawyers, who argued during the hearings that the United Kingdom lacked jurisdiction to issue a freezing injunction against a foreign corporation when it is not related to any of the parties concerned, showed satisfaction at the decision.

"The judge's ruling in this case may set a legal precedent," said Pollock, who during the hearings also claimed that the dispute between Pdvsa and Exxon Mobil was under arbitration in a New York court. Consequently, he suggested, the England and Wales court would exceed its capacities, if it upheld the freezing injunction.

"No comments," said Exxon Mobil's lawyer Catharine Otton-Goulder, who argued that the injunction freezing Pdvsa's assets was necessary to secure financial compensation following nationalization of Exxon Mobil's oil projects in Orinoco belt.

The precautionary freezing injunction had became effective only in a New York bank, where a USD 315 million account held by a Pdvsa's affiliate was  frozen, at the request of Exxon Mobil.

Translated by Maryflor Suárez R.
msuarez@eluniversal.com