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ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance’s priority in Venezuela is recouping billions his company is owed almost two decades after its oil projects were nationalized, rather than drilling new wells.
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Despite roughly $10 billion in favorable judgments from international arbitrators holding Venezuela liable for the seizures, the Houston oil giant’s efforts to recover all it’s owed have been frustrated. Sorting that out takes precedence over making new investments in the Latin American nation, Lance signaled, despite US President Donald Trump’s call for US drillers to help revive the Venezuelan oil sector.
“That’s a significant amount of money, we’ve been after that,” Lance told analysts and investors during a conference call Thursday. “Our focus remains on trying to get the recovery that is owed us from the two judgments we have in place.”
Lance told Trump during a White House gathering of oil executives last month that his company had taken $12 billion in writedowns on its Venezuelan ventures. The Trump administration took control of Venezuela’s crude output after the Jan. 3 capture of strongman Nicolas Maduro by US forces.
“We’re trying to be helpful with the current administration and provide them with our sense of what’s happening on the ground,” Lance said. “A lot has to happen” to pave the way for more foreign investment.
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