Exxon Mobil: The size of the asset freeze seems enormous, relative to the size of the dispute

Did you have any idea that the bonds of PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, are trading at just 65.7 cents on the dollar? I didn't, but are now, partly because of an injunction that Exxon Mobil has managed to get in three international courts, freezing as much as $12 billion of PDVSA's assets. The size of the asset freeze seems enormous, relative to the size of the dispute between the two oil companies.