Fact Sheet: Arbitration between ExxonMobil and Venezuela

[Joanne98]

Venezuela's proposal for an amicable solution and an ongoing international arbitration process, ExxonMobil has resorted to aggressive, unilateral and coercive measures to disqualify any proposed solution, something that could be described as "judiciary terrorism." Venezuela's intention has been to bring illegal oil projects from the rich Orinoco Oil Belt into its legal framework and thus stop the continued transferring of resources needed for social development from the People of Venezuela to the coffers of large foreign multinational companies. This has been accepted by all oil companies operating in Venezuela, except ExxonMobil.

The Orinoco Oil Belt and the Slow Privatization of Natural Resources

The Orinoco Oil Belt is considered the largest hydrocarbons deposit on the planet, containing up to 1.4 trillion barrels of heavy crude oil. It will allow Venezuela to become the country with the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world - 315 billion barrels of oil - by the year 2009. With a total production cost of around $ 7 per barrel of light synthetic crude oil, this area represents one of the most profitable fields in the world, particularly when compared with the Canadian Tar sands developments or with any offshore oil developments.

In the 1990s, through a series of dubious legal measures intended to reverse Venezuela's 1975 nationalization of its oil industry, private oil companies began to explore for oil in different parts of the country including in the Orinoco Oil Belt. At that time, royalties paid by the foreign companies amounted to only 1% of the value of oil extracted from the ground. Furthermore, all contracts intended to subordinate the sovereignty of the State to foreign institutions and make PDVSA a sort of hostage of foreign international oil companies, thus allowing them to manipulate the Venezuelan State.

The 2001 Hydrocarbons Law.....
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3174

[AngryAmish]

1. International law calls for the arbitration

Both sides agreed to this dispute resolution procedure. Methinks the rhetoric is a little heated in the OP.