Venezuela accuses U.S. oil company of "judicial terrorism" |
CARACAS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan government Thursday accused the U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil of carrying out "judicial terrorism" against the sovereign interests of the South American nation, which has decided to nationalize its oil industry. Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, also president of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, said a court decision ordering the freezing of 12 billion U.S. dollars of PDVSA assets is "judicial terrorism." Ramirez made the remarks in a speech to Congress, referring to Exxon's judicial demand against PDVSA that began last week in the U.S., British and Dutch courts. The U.S. Exxon Mobil Corp. is demanding more than 10 times the compensation for its losses after Venezuela nationalized one of its oil ventures, Ramirez said. Exxon Mobil's loss "wouldn't even reach 10 percent" of the 12 billion U.S. dollars in assets the company has sought to freeze in court, Ramirez said. "They ask for too high an amount for their compensation," he added. Venezuela announced Tuesday that the PDVSA has stopped oil sales to Exxon Mobil in retaliation for its securing court orders for the asset freezing. The U.S. government Wednesday voiced support for the company's compensation bid. "We fully support the efforts of Exxon Mobil to get a just and fair compensation package for their assets according to the standards of international law," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Another U.S. oil company, Conoco Phillips, opted for arbitrage without "using terrorist justice," Ramirez said. "Conoco has asked for and maintained a level of communication that allows a friendly solution to our dispute," Ramirez said. "We are on the way to reaching an agreement." Last year, Venezuela singled out Conoco Phillips for not cooperating with the state takeover that pushed the company out of two heavy crude upgrading projects, leading it to take an asset write-down of 4.5 billion dollars. Exxon is interested in causing an alarming situation rather than securing compensation payment for not participating in the Orinoco Oil Strip project after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nationalized the country's oil industry. The Orinoco Oil Strip's nationalization, which began on May 1, 2007, ended Exxon's participation as a main associate of PDVSA and British Petroleum for extracting and producing 120,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day. |
