Pdvsa to present new arguments in arbitration with ConocoPhillips

By presenting new arguments, State-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) will appeal the decision made last week by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which ordered Pdvsa to pay USD 66.8 million to ConocoPhillips as compensation for having forced the US oil company to cut its production between 2006 and 2007 in the Petrozuata oil project at the Orinoco Oil Belt.

The ICC concluded that Pdvsa had breached the agreements of the Petrozuata project when it ordered production cuts established by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Back in that period, ConocoPhillips operated in Venezuela under a joint-venture with the Venezuelan state.

Dismissing the arguments, Rafael Ramírez, Minister of Petroleum and Mining said that the US oil company used in its lawsuit a letter signed by a Pdvsa medium level executive, which asserted that an indemnity would be pay in case of pumping cuts. The minister informed that they were to request the Venezuelan Public Prosecution Office to investigate that director, Reuters reported.

ConocoPhillips also hopes to get USD 30 billion in compensation at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) for the nationalization of its assets in the Orinoco Oil Belt in 2007.

Venezuela is currently facing about 30 billionaire international lawsuits for the expropriation of assets fostered by President Hugo Chávez.

Translated by Andrína Trujillo