Venezuela Must Pay $8.7b to ConocoPhillips, Judge Orders (1)

A judge in Washington, D.C., ordered Venezuela to pay about $8.7 billion to ConocoPhillips as compensation for seizing the energy company’s interests in oil projects.

US District Judge Carl Nichols issued his order Friday to enforce an arbitration award that ConocoPhillips won in 2019. The company’s motion default judgment was granted because Venezuela hasn’t entered an appearance or responded with court filings, Nichols wrote.

Venezuela, which is the target of US trade sanctions, must pay $8.5 billion in damages, plus about $22 million for reimbursement of legal costs, according to the filing.

In 2013, the International Convention on the ...