'Process is not finished': Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez
Orinoco compensation talks ‘continuing’
Venezuela is continuing to hold talks with US supermajors ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips over compensation for their recently nationalised Orinoco heavy oil assets, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said today.
"That process has not finished," said Rafael Ramirez, speaking in Buenos Aires during a two-day state visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips quit their oil operations in Venezuela in June after Chavez decreed the country was taking control over the companies’ operations in the Orinoco heavy oil belt.
Four other oil majors – the US’s Chevron, Norway's Statoil, UK-based BP and France's Total- signed pacts with Venezuela allowing the country to take stakes of up to 83% in their Orinoco projects.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips can negotiate compensation from Venezuela for their lost operations or even seek legal action that could potentially end up in international arbitration.
Asked if the possibility of arbitration had been ruled out, Ramirez said: "You'd have to asked them," referring to the companies.
Ramirez also said the Venezuelan government was planning a $500 million investment in oil exploration in Bolivia.