ConocoPhillips seeks liens on more PdV assets

ConocoPhillips is seeking to attach liens to more Venezuelan state-run PdV's assets in the US, Europe and Asia to enforce an international court's ruling.

An international arbitration tribunal last month ruled that ConocoPhillips is owed $2.04bn by Venezuelan state-owned PdV. The ruling by the tribunal, set up under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), is for ConocoPhillips' contracts with PdV and two of its subsidiaries.

"Those enforcement actions are occurring in the US, in Europe, in Asia and in the Caribbean," chief executive Ryan Lance told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual shareholder meeting.

The Caribbean attachment has received more attention because Dutch courts allow the attachments more quickly than in other courts, Lance said. In places like Hong Kong, London or in the US, the company has to go through a separate appeals process, he said.

Lance did not give a timeline for when he expects to recoup the entire $2bn, but said the company expects to recover that amount over time.

"We are looking at all the different assets," he said.

Lance said the company is trying to make sure that the island nations where the liens are claimed are not hurt economically by its legal dispute with PdV.

"We are sensitive to the people, we understand they are caught in the middle a little bit," Lance said.

State-owned companies in Curacao have filed a lawsuit to partially lift the liens that ConocoPhillips has placed on PdV´s local oil assets, Argus has learned. The lawsuit against ConocoPhillips and PdV was filed in the Court of First Instance in the capital of the Dutch-controlled island, Willemstad. A summary hearing will be held this afternoon at 2:30pm ET.