EXXON Mobil, the American oil giant, has won court orders freezing up to $12 billion (£6.2 billion) in Venezuelan assets worldwide as it fights for compensation for operations lost to the country's nationalisation drive.
Exxon "aims to subject us to a situation of judicial terrorism," said Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's oil minister.
Exxon sought the asset freeze to guarantee repayment should it win arbitration over the Cerro Negro heavy oil project.
The
move is the boldest challenge yet by an international oil major against any of the governments around the world that have moved to increase their holds on natural resources as energy and commodity prices have soared.
"To me it sounds like a very aggressive tactic," said Stephen Zamora, professor of international law at the University of Houston Law Centre.
"They may be trying to get the government to settle."
Exxon – which last week posted the largest-ever annual profit by a United States company – said it has received court orders in Britain, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, each freezing up to $12 billion in assets of Venezuela's state oil firm, PDVSA.
Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's left-wing president, who regularly clashes with the Bush administration, took over Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips stakes in the heavy oil projects in the South American country last June. The move was part of the leader's drive to nationalise key industries, including utilities and telecommunications companies owned by private firms.
The legal news comes as a tough blow to Mr Chavez, who suffered a stinging defeat in a December referendum that would have let him run indefinitely for re-election and enshrine socialism as the OPEC nation's economic system.
PDVSA is already facing growing debt and increasing operational problems that analysts attribute to under- investment caused by the company's massive contributions to Mr Chavez's social programmes.
Exxon said in court filings that recent estimates have placed PDVSA's global asset value – including its operations in Venezuela – at over $62 billion.
