ConocoPhillips Gets US Licenses in Bid to Recoup Venezuela Debt

ConocoPhillips has been granted a string of licenses by the US government that allow the oil and gas producer to better position itself to recover some or all of the roughly $10 billion it is owed by Venezuela after the country seized and nationalized its assets more than a decade ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US licenses help Houston-based ConocoPhillips to advance legal efforts in countries around the world where Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil company, has cash accounts, said the people who asked not to be named because the information is private. ...