PDVSA's Assets To Be Unfrozen: Exxon's Claim Overturned

A UK court has cancelled a decision to freeze $12 billion of Venezuelan assets awarded to Exxon Mobil.

Exxon convinced an English court to freeze the assets of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, in January so cash would be available if Exxon won arbitration over an oil project which was lost to Chavez's nationalisation drive.

But after hearing PDVSA's argument, the judge ruled there was no urgent risk of the company hiding its assets to avoid paying compensation and discharged the injunction.

"Exxon has a lesson to learn," Venezuela's Ambassador to Britain, Samuel Moncada, said outside the court. "This was not the way to go about settling (the dispute) in an amicable way".

Exxon said it had no plans to appeal and that the ruling had no impact on its claim for compensation, lodged with a New York-based arbitration body.