HOUSTON – ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) announced today that it is owed $2.04 billion from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and two of its subsidiaries as a result of the decision of an international arbitration tribunal constituted under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ruling arises out of ConocoPhillips’ contracts with those entities and is in response to the expropriation of ConocoPhillips’ investments in the Hamaca and Petrozuata heavy crude oil projects in Venezuela in 2007 and other pre-expropriation fiscal measures. PDVSA is Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.
“We are pleased with the ICC tribunal’s decision,” said Janet Langford Carrig, senior vice president, Legal, general counsel and corporate secretary of ConocoPhillips. “The ruling upholds the contractual protections to which ConocoPhillips is entitled under the applicable agreements and acknowledges PDVSA’s independent contractual liability arising from the government of Venezuela’s unlawful and uncompensated expropriation of ConocoPhillips’ investments.”
The ICC arbitration award is final and binding upon the parties. ConocoPhillips will pursue enforcement and seek financial recovery of its award to the full extent of the law.
The ICC arbitration is a separate and independent legal action from ConocoPhillips’ investment treaty arbitration against the government of Venezuela, which is pending before a tribunal under the auspices of the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The ICSID tribunal has ruled that Venezuela’s expropriation of ConocoPhillips’ investments violated international law, and proceedings are currently ongoing to determine the amount of compensation owed to ConocoPhillips.
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About ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips is the world’s largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 17 countries, $73 billion of total assets, and approximately 11,400 employees as of Dec. 31, 2017. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,356 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017, and proved reserves were 5.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of Dec. 31, 2017. For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com.
Contacts
Daren Beaudo (media)
281-293-2073
daren.beaudo@conocophillips.com
Andy O’Brien (investors)
281-293-5000
andy.m.obrien@conocophillips.com
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