ConocoPhillips Venezuela expropriation award cut

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icisd) has slightly reduced to $8.5bn its arbitration award to ConocoPhillips for Venezuela's expropriation of heavy oil projects in 2007.

Fixing clerical and arithmetic errors in an initial $8.7bn award reduced the Icisd arbitration decision by 2.7pc, to $8.5bn, in a late August decision.

Icisd had previously determined that Venezuela owed payments to ConocoPhillips for its expropriation of two Orinoco oil belt projects — Petrozuata and Hamaca.

ConocoPhillips has sought recognition of the award in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Both representatives of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly leader Juan Guaido submitted arguments to represent the Opec-member nation in the decision. Dozens of western governments including the United States recognize Guaido as an interim president.

Icisd took no position on the representation in its decision, finding the question of who represented Venezuela immaterial to the matter of fixing mathematical errors identified by both sets of attorneys. Notifications on future developments in the case would be sent to all attorneys "without making any ruling about the validity of the powers of the attorney," Icisd said in the decision.