Court approves seizing PDVSA assets in Trinidad for payments to ConocoPhillips

The decision is made, since there is a risk that Pdvsa will move assets from the jurisdiction of Trinidad to avoid paying / Photo: TalCual

A Trinidad court approved this Friday, September 27, the seizure of assets of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), in that country, for an offshore gas project proposed between the two neighbors, the agency reports. Reuters.

ConocoPhillips has been trying for years to recover money from PDVSA for the expropriation of its assets. The state-owned company had paid Conoco about $700 million through a conciliation agreement, but stopped making payments at the end of 2019.

Since then, review TalCualConoco has attempted to enforce arbitration rulings against Venezuela and PDVSA, including a $1.33 billion lawsuit against the state-owned company in Trinidad’s high court.

Judge Frank Seepersad said his decision to name a receiver was made because there is a risk that PDVSA will move assets from Trinidad’s jurisdiction to avoid paying ConocoPhillips and highlighted the previous relocation of PDVSA’s European headquarters to Moscow.

Conoco’s lawyers told the court that they had identified the specific PDVSA assets that were targeted. Judge Seepersad said the order was issued against PDVSA and its companies and not against the Venezuelan state, which was not the subject of ConocoPhillips’ legal action.

Trinidad’s state-owned National Gas Company is a member of the Trinidad-Venezuela gas project.

The court-approved recipient will control any compensation payable to PDVSA for giving up a right to the Dragon Gas Field joint project and any infrastructure it owns, court documents showed.

PDVSA has seven days since it was notified of the Trinidad court’s latest decision to try to have it annulled.

Puerto La Cruz / Web Editorial