Venezuela Pays Italy’s Eni 700 Mln U.S. Dollars Over Nationalization

Venezuela pays Italy’s Eni 700 mln U.S. dollars over nationalization

CARACAS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — Venezuela’s state oil company agreed on Tuesday to pay Italian energy firm Eni 700 million U.S. dollars to compensate its losses during a 2006 nationalization.

“The arbitrage option has finally been settled,” Rafael Ramirez,president of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA,told reporters.

Ramirez, who is also the nation’s energy minister, said Eni entered negotiation with PDVSA following similar moves by several domestic and foreign companies, including the French company Total.

PDVSA assumed control of Eni’s Dacion field, which produces 50,000 barrels of oil per day on April 1, 2006 in a nationalization drive.

The Dacion field is in the Orinoco Petroliferous Strip, which has been recognized as the largest hydrocarbon reserve in the world.

“The signing of this agreement with Eni shows that only one company, Exxon Mobil, remains in a situation of aggression and belligerence towards our sovereignty and that it is isolated,” Ramirez said. “We will continue to fight for our interests and ourpetroleum sovereignty,” he added.

Last Tuesday, PDVSA halted oil sales to Exxon Mobil after the U.S. company secured the freezing of 12 billion dollars belonging to it at courts in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.Exxon is seeking compensation in the courts for a May 2006 nationalization.

By contrast, in December last year, PDVSA and Eni agreed to create a joint venture to develop offshore fields in Venezuela’s Paria Gulf waters. PDVSA holds 64.25 percent of the stakes at the venture.

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