Reuters From E&P

U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips Co. (NYSE: COP) is far from collecting the full value of a $2 billion arbitration award against Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA , ConocoPhillips’ CEO said May 15.

ConocoPhillips has won court orders allowing the company to begin seizing PDVSA assets in efforts to collect on an award by the International Chamber of Commerce over the 2007 nationalization of its projects in Venezuela.

While ConocoPhillips started seizing assets this month, CEO Ryan Lance is telegraphing that the company intends to escalate its campaign against PDVSA across the globe as it works to recoup losses. That threatens to further limit revenue at the state-controlled firm, the single largest moneymaker for the OPEC member.

“It’s not close to the $2 billion today, but over time we expect to be able to recover it,” Lance said at ConocoPhillips’s annual shareholder meeting in Houston. “We’re just trying to look where all the assets are.”

ConocoPhillips has filed with courts in the U.S., Hong Kong, the U.K. and throughout the Caribbean in an attempt to begin the legal process of seizing additional PDVSA assets, Lance said.

ConocoPhillips on May 15 moved to seize at least two cargoes of crude and fuel near a terminal operated by PDVSA subsidiary Citgo Petroleum in Aruba, sources told Reuters.

In Asia, PDVSA is co-owner with PetroChina of CV Shipping Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based tanker operator, according to CV Shipping’s website. The joint venture has four tankers, each capable of transporting 2 million barrels of oil.

For more on this story go to: https://www.epmag.com/conocophillips-not-close-recouping-2-billion-pdvsa-ceo-says-1701666

IMAGE:T he Eagle Ford is among the areas that contributed to ConocoPhillips’ 20% year-on-year production increase in the Lower 48 during first-quarter 2018. (Source: ConocoPhillips)