Exxon Mobil Awarded $908 Million Following Venezuela's Nationalization

CARACAS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil
said on Sunday an arbitration panel awarded it $908
million over a contractual dispute with Venezuela, following the
South American nation's 2007 nationalization of its assets.


Exxon Mobil had filed a claim in 2007 with a World Bank
arbitration tribunal seeking at least $7 billion in compensation
for a heavy oil project that President Hugo Chavez nationalized
in a broad wave of state takeovers.


Venezuelan sources declined on Saturday to specify the
amount Venezuela was ordered to pay, but said they saw the
decision as favorable to Caracas.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing By Peter Cooney)

Comments

[pab08]

12:47 AM on 01/03/2012

Awarded 12% of what they were seeking. Hardly a victory. AND, good luck getting Hugo to ever pay a dime.

[freedom1947]

11:10 PM on 01/02/2012

You know they will contribute this money towards the american eco system. Ha!

[Romano54]

09:36 PM on 01/02/2012

SNAP! When I saw the title, I thought "Free gas for everyone!" What a downer!

[old broken record]

06:27 PM on 01/02/2012

Venezuela obliged to pay only $255 million of the $908 million judgment

$161 reduced for paying withing 60 days
$191 reduced for monies Exxon owes Venezuela
$300 reduced for monies U.S.A. frozed

Venezuela To Pay Exxon $255 Million for Nationalized Assets
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/01/02/venezuela-to-pay-exxon-255-million-for-nationalized-assets/

[nypapajoe]

05:13 PM on 01/02/2012

Maybe now they can pay their back taxes owed to the US!

[old broken record]

07:42 PM on 01/02/2012

i doubt it. they'll claim it as a big loss. ;)

[mericart]

04:31 PM on 01/02/2012

How much are we taxing Exxon Mobil's windfall? Hopefully it's more than five dollars.

[sonofsamphm1c]

06:28 PM on 01/02/2012

They said on the news that it was 1/10th of what they were demanding, so they'll probably take a loss!

Capitalism - 1
Socialism - 9

[old broken record]

07:45 PM on 01/02/2012

i'm not sure about that either. you see its not capitalists vs socialists. i think the real fight is big vs small. local vs global. america, like all others countries, is a mix of capitalism and socialism values and forces. and the fight is just getting started unless china or someone else with nuclear deterrence steps in to protect venezuela who is to say cia not doing haiti style intervention in the near future ;)

[Robert Huber]

12:56 AM on 01/04/2012

Windfall??????????

What do you mean "windfall"? Venezuela seized their assets and they have awarded a tiny fraction of what was stolen from them.

[Eagleman]

11:58 AM on 01/02/2012

Capitalism 1 Socialism 0

[MalibuConservative]

12:19 PM on 01/02/2012

Amen

[Veri]

01:50 PM on 01/02/2012

Like Eminent Domain in the US where cities can strip homeowners of their property, sell it to developers (usually involving sweetheart deals, cash campaign contributions, and cronyism); the reason being to 'raise tax revenue for public purposes.

Capitalism is batting .999 the last few years. Main Street maintains its unstoppable losing streak.

[boxjelly]

04:18 PM on 01/02/2012

So you apparently haven't realized the difference between Capitalism and crony capitalism....

[Soft Robot]

11:55 AM on 01/02/2012

It's not a 'contractual dispute', it's the theft of an entire industry with no compensation. Chavez woke up one day and decided to 'nationalize' e.g. take Exxon's oil industry in Venezuela and kick them out.

On the upside though, Il Duce Chavez has told the world he's not serious about entertaining foreign investment in Venezuela and prefers to model his economy on some idiotic self sufficient Communist model which has worked fantastically for Cuba, North Korea and Zimbabwe. So.....good luck with all of that.

[frankieshoes1]

12:25 PM on 01/02/2012

Cuba, North Korea and Zimbawe don't export oil. So it may work out well.

[Soft Robot]

12:51 PM on 01/02/2012

Cuba used to export sugar until the CCCP stopped subsidizing it at 3x the market rate. Zimbabwe used to export more food than any other country in Africa. Now they're starving. North Korea is and always will be a basket case.

[nofriendofrepublicans]

03:51 PM on 01/02/2012

Always nice to hear from the ignorant, keep up the good work.

[Soft Robot]

03:59 PM on 01/02/2012

Always comforting to hear from the iPhone endowed mommy pays all my bills faux Marxists.

[grapost]

11:12 AM on 01/02/2012

And Fat Chance of them ever getting a penny of it from Hugo Chavez!

[sonofsamphm1c]

06:30 PM on 01/02/2012

Sorry, but he pays. Hugo nationalizes the legal way. He disagreed with the amount for which they were asking, and he has won the first round.

[clearthinker16]

10:54 AM on 01/02/2012

with gasoline in Venezuela at the equivalent of 25 cents a gallon at least someone is benefiting from this

[robmclaughjr]

10:01 AM on 01/02/2012

Watch the good use to which that money is applied. The poor people of Venezuela will be so pleased how old colonial treaties have taken food from their baby's mouthes.

[altohone]

09:13 AM on 01/02/2012

The bribes they paid to the previous government may have been worth it after all.

[Norma Ward]

07:42 AM on 01/02/2012

When the largest publicly traded oil company in the world states in its 2011 annual summary that, for the past 10 years, it has not been able to replace what it has produced despite spending tens of billions of dollars on exploration, that tells the entire tale.

Here's a summary analysis of the difficulties facing ExxonMobil and how most of its oil production growth is no longer organic, it's through acquisitions:

http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/02/if-exxon-cant-find-oil-who-can.html

[Carl Crooks]

02:19 AM on 01/02/2012

Ugh....I just vomited in my mouth a little,no really........I

[l monroe]

12:21 AM on 01/02/2012

The world bank controls who gets paid. Don't worry about not being paid the world bank helps who gets paid. Money going from one country going to Venezuela will be sequestered until the 7 billion will be paid. The question is will Chavez's government be there? Pharmaceuticals, imported cars, and other goods will be harder to purchase for the common person.

[Viable Way]

04:54 AM on 01/02/2012

You mean $908 million, not $7 billion don't you?

[amConcerned]

10:50 AM on 01/02/2012

$908 million and a couple billion dollars more on the way result of other arbitration cases. Probably pretty close to what Exxon was honestly expecting. Those higher amounts were probably thrown out in the event the case may find its way to a venue that might entertain the idea of punitive compensation.

[l monroe]

12:30 PM on 01/02/2012

I'm sorry, the numbers elude me but they are quiet large.