Venezuelan request for annulment of Conoco award dismissed by arbitration court

The World Bank arbitral tribunal dismissed Venezuela's request to annul an $8.37 billion arbitration decision in favor of ConocoPhillips. This cleared the way for ConocoPhillips to claim compensation for its expropriation assets from Venezuela.

In 2019, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes made a final ruling declaring that Conoco's expropriation was 'illegal' and ordering it to compensate Conoco. Venezuela then filed a request for rectification of the amount and for annulment.

According to its website, the court informed the parties of the decision this week.

The court ruled that Venezuela's requests to annul the award were dismissed. Venezuela was ordered to pay its own legal costs, $1.35million in annulment proceedings costs, and $6.46million for Conoco's legal expenses.

ConocoPhillips Venezuela and the Ministry of Communication did not respond to comments immediately.

Conoco is a major claimant in an important case before the U.S. Federal Court of Delaware. In this case, 18 companies that defaulted in Venezuela or had their assets expropriated are trying to get up to $21.3 Billion from the auction of shares of the parent company of Venezuelan-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum.

(source: Reuters)