The Venezuelans won their legal fight on Tuesday and Exxon took a big hit.

On Tuesday morning the unprepossessing surroundings of the basement of the Royal Courts of Justice, Court 22 were the venue for the final main round in a battle royal between the US company Exxon, the world’s biggest private sector oil giant, and PDVSA, the state oil company of President Hugo Chávez’ Venezuela which last year took control of its operations. The Venezuelans were seeking to lift an embargo on assets worth $12,000 million that Exxon’s subsidiary Cerro Negro had obtained from the British courts in January so as to ensure it would be compensated for any loss. The oil company had obtained it as part of its fight against the nationalisation by Chávez. In the event the Venezuelans won their legal fight on Tuesday and Exxon took a big hit.