PDVSA Must Face Suit Over Alleged Seizures of Offshore Oil Rigs

PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, must face the lawsuit brought by Oklahoma-based Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co.'s over seized drilling rigs after a federal appeals court tossed its foreign sovereign immunity claim.

Petróleos de Venezuela SA is an “alter ego of a foreign state,” so Venezuela indirectly took Helmerich’s property in violation of international law. The expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act therefore applies, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled Friday.

It affirmed the lower court’s denial of PDVSA’s motion to dismiss, allowing Helmerich to continue its lawsuit that began over 14 ...