The U.S. government “fully supports” Exxon Mobil's bid to receive fair compensation for its assets in a dispute with Venezuela, the State Department said. Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA said Tuesday it suspended oil supplies to Exxon Mobil in retaliation for the U.S. company's securing court orders to freeze up to $12 billion in global PDVSA assets. The court orders were issued as part of an international arbitration sought by Exxon Mobil to win compensation for the Venezuelan government's nationalization of key oil fields in the Orinoco River basin. “We fully support the efforts to Exxon Mobil to get a just and fair compensation package for their assets according to the standards of international law,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Asked to comment on PDVSA's suspension of supplies to Exxon Mobil, McCormack replied, “This is all part of an ongoing commercial dispute between Venezuela and Exxon Mobil.” “We're not involved in that dispute. That's something to be litigated between Venezuela and Exxon Mobil and various courts around the world,” McCormack told reporters. Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Tuesday that Exxon Mobil's court strategy was politically motivated, and said the U.S. energy giant was “very closely linked” to the State Department.
