Oil Industry Headlines: Week of March 15
“We have defeated Exxon,” declared Venezuela’s Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez after a U.K. court lifted a $12bln freeze on the nation’s assets. Exxon Mobil representative Alan Jeffers said in a statement on Tuesday that “while Justice Walker’s decision came down to jurisdiction, he did not question Exxon’s ‘underlying claim’,” reported Dow Jones. Earlier this year, Exxon persuaded courts in the U.K., Dutch Antilles and the Netherlands to freeze Venezuala’s assets pending the outcome of arbitration over the nationalization of the Orinoco Basin.
On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney told reporters the oil market is suffering from a lack of production capacity. As oil hit a record high of $111.80 per barrel, Cheney said that although prices have increased dramatially, “it reflects primarily the realities in the marketplace,” reported Reuters.
Published Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 10:30 am and filed under Industry News.