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Trinidadian judge approves seizure of Venezuela’s gas proceeds to clear debt with US oil company
Trinidadian Judge, Frank Persaud (Trinidad Express Photo)
Kaieteur News – United States oil company, ConocoPhillips on Friday got a Trinidad court to approve the seizing of payments from the Caribbean country to Venezuela’s state oil company for a proposed offshore gas project between the two neighbors – Reuters reported.
ConocoPhillips has for years been seeking to recover money from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for expropriating its assets. PDVSA had paid Conoco about US$700 million through a settlement agreement but ceased payments in late 2019.
Conoco has since attempted to enforce arbitration rulings against Venezuela and PDVSA, including a US$1.33 billion claim against PDVSA in Trinidad’s high court.
It was reported that Judge Frank Seepersad said his decision to appoint a receiver was made as there is a risk that PDVSA will move assets from Trinidad’s jurisdiction to avoid paying ConocoPhillips, and pointed to PDVSA’s previous relocation of its European headquarters to Moscow.
Conoco’s lawyers told the court they had identified the specific PDVSA assets they were targeting. Judge Seepersad said the order was made against PDVSA and its companies and not the state of Venezuela which was not the subject of ConocoPhillips’ legal move.
ConocoPhillips declined to comment. PDVSA could not immediately be reached for comment and Trinidad’s state-owned National Gas Company, which is a member of the Trinidad-Venezuela gas project, was not immediately available for comment.
According to the Reuters report, the court-approved receiver will control any compensation payable to PDVSA for relinquishing a right to the joint Dragon Gas Field project, and any infrastructure it owns, court documents showed.
PDVSA has seven days after being served with the Trinidad court’s latest decision to try and have it set aside.
ConocoPhillips secured a similar judgment in Guyana. According to reports, following Venezuela’s nationalisation of the company’s assets, ConocoPhillips secured an arbitral award against the Venezuelan government.
ConocoPhillips sought to enforce it in various countries, including Guyana, Trinidad, and Jamaica, where PDVSA holds assets.
Last month, the Government of Guyana (GoG) moved to set aside a ruling by High Court Judge Gino Persaud, which permitted the enforcement of the arbitral award in ConocoPhillips’ favour to claim funds owed to Venezuela and PDVSA.
The Guyana Government’s escrow account, holding about US$32.01 million under the PetroCaribe agreement for Venezuela, was targeted by ConocoPhillips. However, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, S.C., has appealed Justice Persaud’s ruling, requesting the Full Court to overturn the decision entirely. Nandlall is also seeking costs for both the Full Court and the lower court proceedings.
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