Posted on 02/13/2008 3:52:04 PM PST by SmithL
NEW YORK, (AP) -- A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday confirmed the freezing of $300 million in cash held by Venezuela's state-run oil company, finding it probable that Exxon Mobil Corp. will win its legal battle against the company.
Exxon Mobil is challenging Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, over compensation for the nationalization of one of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.
Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, is seeking to freeze billions in Venezuelan assets in the United States and Europe to guarantee a payoff in the event it wins a decision by an international arbitration panel.
U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts on Wednesday confirmed the "order of attachment" on the $300 million in Venezuelan cash after listening to arguments from lawyers for both oil companies.
A British court issued an injunction last month temporarily freezing up to $12 billion of PDVSA's assets.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rattled international oil markets this week by threatening to cut off all oil supplies to the United States in response Exxon Mobil's legal challenges. On Tuesday, PDVSA said it would stop selling oil to Exxon Mobil, although it was not clear how much crude that would affect.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA, on Wednesday vowed to mount "a defense of the nation's interests" in the battle with Exxon Mobil.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, meanwhile, said the United States supports the U.S. oil company's efforts to seize assets to get a "just and fair compensation."
Venezuela did not immediately respond to the judge's decision in New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Exxon is in a deal to ship LNG down the Dalton Highway to Fairbanks. As it is, Fairbanks gets what little natural gas it gets from Anchorage, also LNG. The road from Prudhoe is a little more adventurous than the road from Anchorage.
Exxon is in a deal to ship LNG down the Dalton Highway to Fairbanks. As it is, Fairbanks gets what little natural gas it gets from Anchorage, also LNG. The road from Prudhoe is a little more adventurous than the road from Anchorage.
Would be lovely if we backed Exxon with some military force as well. Latin America needs a good taste of the Monroe Doctrine.
What’s it gonna take to become energy independent?
The rest of OPEC is just as bad as this clown...they just don’t voice their hate so openly...face it: right now we are paying tribute for our inability to power our own needs.
The Monroe Doctrine was that Europe (and the rest of the Eastern Hemisphere) should stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Since Venezuela is in the Western Hemisphere, it really doesn't apply. But I understand what you're saying and we do need to show Chavez that we won't be bullied by a pissy little socialist like him.
The Monroe Doctrine was that Europe (and the rest of the Eastern Hemisphere) should stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Since Venezuela is in the Western Hemisphere, it really doesn't apply. But I understand what you're saying and we do need to show Chavez that we won't be bullied by a pissy little socialist like him.
We have the technology and the capability. What we don't have is permission to tap into oil resources or to build nuclear power facilities.
I’d be happy with the Reagan Doctrine.
AGREED!
unwillingness to power our own needs
Of course! In a perverted way Chavez and OPEC thugs inc. may be provoking that unwillingness to become a willingness instead.
Great. Next year I get to pay $5.00 per gallon for heating oil.
I bet all those grateful little old ladies and welfare rats that got free oil from Hugo up here in the Northeast will be singing an entirely different tune next winter so Hillary or Obama can be voted in to save the day, raise my taxes and make up the difference.
Exxon Mobile will still make billions (and no I do not begrudge them their profit margin, I am a conservative capalist at heart) while our ‘sensitive’ environmentalist & energy lobbyist convince Washington politicians of the evils of alternative energy, offshore drilling, ANWR and nuclear power. The French Revolution part II on American soil is inching closer every day.
Nah, the majority of the people in Venezuela thinks Hugo is a tard and voted accordingly. They are also some of the most fiery of the latino hothead populations and know the true meaning of the word revoluton. Let him shut it off, I’ll pay extra dough for my shitty sour crude heating oil and save me the tax dollar cost of another major conflict this decade. We’ll each pay a lot less in the end and guess what? We can no longer afford to be the world’s policemen.
BINGO
Yup. Our refineries are about the only ones that can even process his tar-oil. We get 10-14% of our oil imports from them while that represents 70-80% of their exports.
Guess who loses?
I’d bet the Chinese would be more than happy to build a couple of refineries that can handle sulfurous tarry crude.
Exxon-Mobil made about 10.9% profit margin from revenue of about 373 billion dollars ( http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=XOM). This is an average, even small, profit margin. Remember oil has been over sixty dollars for some time now . XOM is the largest segment of what was the Standard Oil Trust, the largest industrial corporation ever. The pieces of the Standard Oil legacy still constitute, if aggregated, the largest industrial unit in the world.
Don't let big numbers, or the liberals who report those numbers, make you say dumb things.
Correct. Which is why the Brits were in violation of both the Monroe Doctrine AND the Roosevelt Corollary when they invaded the Malvinas.
The Falkland Islands were british to begin with. Monroe doctrine ended further colonization. (lets not forget those french colonies to the east of canada.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.