Caracas, Feb 13 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela's willingness to negotiate oil projects with foreign companies is based on the country's sovereignty over natural resources, an inviolable principle in any contractual relation among companies. The issue is specially relevant in the light of the US company Exxon Mobil's efforts to freeze assets of the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) abroad.
The US group filed a lawsuit at the ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) in 2007 after being forced to withdraw from Cerro Negro, which operates on the Orinoco Oil Strip, now under the name of Petromonagas. That zone has a huge potential, with estimated reserves of 316 billion barrels.
According to Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, Exxon Mobil's actions define that company's clear political stance on its interests in oil-producing countries.
Venezuela's policy resulted in the creation of joint ventures from old operative agreements and strategic associations, which was accepted by most foreign companies operating in the country's oil sector. Only Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil rejected the proposal. Negotiations are underway with the former to solve the dispute in a friendly way. However, Exxon Mobil, which reported profits of nearly 40 billion dollars in 2007, bet on clash as a way to exert pressure not only on PDVSA, but also on the Venezuelan government.
In that regard, Hydrocarbons Deputy Minister Bernard Mommer pointed out that at the talks to create a joint venture, Exxon Mobil tried to discuss such issues as taxes, royalties and international arbitrage.
That intention is contrary to national sovereignty, which is out of any commercial discussion, thus ratifying the government's willingness to spend oil profits in all sectors of Venezuelan society.
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