By Xinhua
Washington : The US government will support oil giant ExxonMobil’s bid to receive a fair compensation package for its assets in a dispute with Venezuela, the State Department has said.
“We fully support the efforts of ExxonMobil to get a just and fair compensation package for their assets according to the standards of the international law,” spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday.
Venezuela announced Tuesday that its state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has stopped oil sales to the Exxon Mobil Corp in retaliation for the US energy giant’s securing court orders to freeze billions of dollars in global PDVSA assets.
When asked to comment on PDVSA’s suspension, McCormack said: “This is all part of an ongoing commercial dispute between Venezuela and ExxonMobil. We’re not involved in that dispute. That’s something to be litigated between Venezuela and ExxonMobil and various courts around the world.”
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Wednesday the freezing of $300 million belonging to Venezuela’s state oil company ahead of a multi-billion-dollar arbitration case brought by ExxonMobil over the state’s nationalisation of a huge oil project.
Venezuela is the fourth largest oil exporter to the US. Their bilateral relations have been tense with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez saying that the US is planning an invasion of his country, while the US says Chavez is destabilising the region.