Chavez threatens to halt oil sales to US
Venezuela halts oil sales to Exxon Mobil
南米ベネズエラの油田国有化で損害を被ったとして米エクソンモービルが同国に補償を求めていた問題で、米欧の裁判所は7日までに、同国が支払いに応じなかった場合に備え、ベネズエラ国営石油会社のＰＤＶＳＡが海外に保有する資産を差し押さえる命令を下した。差し押さえ対象は製油所などの海外資産で、総額約120億ドル（約1兆3000億円）にのぼる。
正確には
米裁判所は3億ドルの現金
英裁判所は120億ドルまで（ヴェネズエラによると英国には資産がない）
エクソンの申し立てを認める判断を下したのは、米ニューヨーク連邦地裁や英国、オランダの裁判所。エクソンはベネズエラと国際調停に入るが、不調に終わった場合、エクソンは差し押さえ資産を処分し、現金を回収できるという。原油高で資源国有化の動きが広がるなか、米欧メジャーが法廷で反撃に乗り出す初の事例となる。
ベネズエラにとって米国は原油などの主要販売先の一つで、PDVSAはエクソンと合弁で製油所も運営している。PDVSAは当面、製油所などの操業を続けることができるが、調停が不調に終わった場合、原料などが差し押さえられて操業が難しくなる可能性がある。
Chalmette Refining, a joint venture between ExxonMobil and PDVSA
Feb 09, 2008 (XFN via COMTEX)
Venezuela denies
oil assets frozen
Venezuela's top oil official accused Exxon Mobil Corp. of
"judicial terrorism" on Friday, but said court orders
won by the oil major do not amount to confiscation of $12 billion
in assets.
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company,
Petroleos de Venezuela SA, in U.S., British and Dutch courts as
it challenges the nationalization of a multi-billion dollar oil
project by President Hugo Chavez's government.
A British court last month issued an injunction
"freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets.
But Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said: "They don't have any
asset frozen. They only have frozen $300 million" in cash
through a U.S. court in New York. As for the case in Britain,
PDVSA doesn't have "any assets in that jurisdiction that
even come close to those sums" of $12 billion, Ramirez said.
Ramirez called it a "transitory measure" while the
state company, known as PDVSA, presents its case in New York and
London. Exxon Mobil is also taking its dispute to international
arbitration, which Venezuela has agreed to.
But Ramirez, who is PDVSA's president, said Exxon Mobil
"hasn't respected the terms of the arbitration" and
said Exxon Mobil's claims in the Venezuela nationalization
dispute "don't even come close to half the sum of $12
billion claimed by them."
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross said the company had no
comment on Ramirez's statements.
Ramirez said the court cases "don't have any affect on our
cash flow, don't affect our operational situation at all."
Ramirez said Exxon Mobil
sued in New York, London and the Netherlands to dispute the terms
under Chavez's nationalization last year of four heavy oil
projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest
oil deposits.
"We don't have any decision by any court that's
definitive," Ramirez said. "We have a preventative
measure in a court in New York that we have a right to respond
to, and we are going to."
He accused the Irving, Texas-based oil major of employing
"judicial terrorism" and trying to generate
"financial nervousness" around PDVSA.
According to documents
filed last month in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Exxon
Mobil has secured an "order of attachment" on about
$300 million in cash held by PDVSA. A hearing to confirm the
order is scheduled in New York for Feb. 13.
In a Jan. 24 "freezing injunction" by a British High
Court, the court said that "until the return date or further
order from the court," PDVSA "must not remove from
England or Wales any of its assets which are in England or Wales
up to the value of $12 billion."
The court also said that if PDVSA disobeys the order, it could be
held in contempt of court and be fined or have assets seized.
Other
major oil companies including U.S.-based Chevron Corp., France's
Total, Britain's BP PLC, and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA have
negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue on as minority
partners in the Orinoco oil project.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, however, balked at the tougher
terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
Ramirez said Venezuelan officials have had "very important
meetings" with ConocoPhillips Chairman Jim Mulva and have made
progress toward an agreement. "I think we're on a path to
achieving it," Ramirez said.
As for the dispute with Exxon Mobil, Ramirez said "we're
going to value fairly what would be its compensation, or not if
that be the case."
Chavez threatens to halt oil sales to US
President Hugo Chavez on
Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an
"economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court
judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company
Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it
challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil
project by Chavez's government.
A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as
much as $12 billion in assets.
"If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us,
we're going to harm you," Chavez said during his weekly
radio and television program, "Hello, President."
"Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United
States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger."
Chavez has repeatedly threatened to cut off oil shipments to the
United States, which is Venezuela's No. 1 client, if Washington
tries to oust him. Chavez's warnings on Sunday appeared to extend
that threat to attempts by oil companies to challenge his
government's nationalization drive through lawsuits.
"I speak to the U.S. empire, because that's the master:
continue and you will see that we won't sent one drop of oil to
the empire of the United States," Chavez said Sunday.
"The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us,"
Chavez said, accusing the Irving, Texas-based oil company of
acting in concert with Washington.
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross said the company had no
comment. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Caracas did not return a
call.
Venezuela accounted for about 12 percent of U.S. crude oil
imports in November, the latest figures available from the U.S.
Energy Department. The 1.23 million barrels a day from Venezuela
makes that country the U.S.'s fourth-biggest oil importer behind
Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has argued that court
orders won by Exxon Mobil have "no effect" on the state
oil company PDVSA and are merely "transitory measures"
while Venezuela presents its case in courts in New York and
London.
Exxon Mobil is also taking its claims to international
arbitration, disputing the terms it was granted under Chavez's
nationalization last year of four heavy oil projects in the
Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.
Other major oil companies including U.S.-based Chevron Corp.,
France's Total, Britain's BP PLC, and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA
have negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue on as minority
partners in the Orinoco oil project.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, however, balked at the tougher
terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
Venezuela halts oil sales to Exxon Mobil
Venezuela's state oil
company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon
Mobil Corp. and has suspended commercial relations with the
U.S.-based oil company.
State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said in a
statement that it "has paralyzed sales of crude to Exxon
Mobil." It said the decision was made "as an act of
reciprocity" for the company's "judicial-economic
harassment."
President Hugo Chavez has shaken oil markets this week with
broader threats to cut off oil supplies to the United States. His
threats came in response to a drive by Exxon Mobil to seize
Venezuelan assets through U.S. and European courts in a dispute
over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela.
The impact of the decision on Exxon Mobil was not immediately
clear. Both Chavez and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez previously
said the Irving, Texas-based company is no longer welcome to do
business in Venezuela.
British judge rules against Exxon Mobil
A British judge ruled against Exxon Mobil Corp. on Tuesday, tossing out an order to freeze $12 billion in assets belonging to Venezuela's state oil company in a case that stemmed from the nationalization of a project last year.
Judge Paul Walker noted that such freezing orders are rare and occur in cases where there is "usually compelling evidence of serious international fraud."
"In the present case there is no suggestion whatever of fraud on the part of (Petroleos de Venezuela SA) or any entity or person associated with it," Walker said in a summary of conclusions released by the court.
During the court case, Walker also signaled that he agreed with PDVSA's argument that the case didn't fall under British jurisdiction since it isn't a British company and has no assets, businesses or bank accounts there.
"Today we have a firm decision 100 percent in our favor," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told state television. "We've defeated Exxon Mobil."
Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil had decided to go to international arbitration with PDVSA last year, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nationalized a heavy oil project in the Orinoco River basin.
The company subsequently secured court orders in Britain, among other countries, to freeze PDVSA's international assets, saying it needed to ensure that it would get paid for the loss of the project and future revenues if an international court ruled in its favor.
Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers said the company has no plans to appeal the ruling and that the judge based his decision on jurisdictional issues.
"The important thing, from our perspective, is the court did not question the merits of our underlying claim," he said.
Exxon Mobil didn't question Venezuela's right to expropriate, Jeffers said. But he said it signed a contract with PDVSA in the 1990s that specifically said the Venezuelan company would compensate Exxon Mobil for such moves.
"We have a contractual commitment from PDVSA to compensate us in the event of that, and we're seeking that PDVSA honor the terms of that agreement," Jeffers said.
Jeffers said Exxon Mobil was trying to prevent PDVSA from disposing of assets that might be used to settle future claims. Court rulings in the Netherlands and New York to seize Venezuelan assets in exchange for nationalized oil fields remain in place, he said.
But he said Exxon Mobil was still willing to try to negotiate a solution with Venezuela.
Venezuela, meanwhile, is now considering suing Exxon Mobil, Ramirez said. "Exxon Mobil is going to have to answer now for the damage that has been caused to our company, to our country," he said.
Ramirez said Exxon Mobil has been "very arrogant," while other companies including Chevron Corp., Total SA, BP PLC and StatoilHydro ASA have negotiated deals to continue as minority partners in the nationalized projects.
"Exxon is isolated in its abusive position," Ramirez said.