Court registers US$10b ConocoPhillips award against VenezuelaUS oil giant ConocoPhillips has been permitted to register an over US$10 billion arbitration award against Venezuela in Trinidad and Tobago for the expropriation of its oil assets by the South American country nearly two decades ago.
On May 27, Justice Frank Seepersad approved the company's application to register the award granted by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 2019.
The award, originally issued by ICSID in 2019, stems from Venezuela’s 2007 seizure of ConocoPhillips’ interests in three major oil projects. The application was made by ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria BV, ConocoPhillips Petrozuata BV and ConocoPhillips Hamaca BV against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
In his ruling, Seepersad affirmed that TT, as a party to the ICSID Convention, was legally bound to recognise and enforce the award. He said such awards could be registered “almost as a matter of right,” provided they meet the authenticity and procedural requirements, which, he ruled, ConocoPhillips had fulfilled.
Venezuela had attempted to annul the award in early 2025 but failed. Seepersad ruled that the court was satisfied the necessary legal avenues under the ICSID Convention had been exhausted and rejected sovereign immunity as a barrier to registration of the award locally.
In his ruling, the judge noted Venezuela’s 2012 withdrawal from the ICSID Convention, but said it did not affect ConocoPhillips’ rights.
The judge allowed ConocoPhillips to proceed with the application on an ex parte basis as provided for by law. He approved service of the court’s order on Venezuela’s ambassador in Trinidad, citing a new Venezuelan law that effectively criminalises service of legal documents, making traditional service nearly impossible.
Seepersad said that since the ICSID convention was enacted into local law, it allowed the court to recognise its arbitral awards.
While noting there were some procedural lacunas in the civil proceeding rules on enforcement and registration of such awards locally, the judge said, since the ISCID convention was incorporated into domestic law, the court could exercise its jurisdiction to ensure that it gave effect to the obligations of the convention.
He also noted that it was not necessary for ConocoPhillips, as a precondition to registration of the award, to establish or convince the court that there were assets in the local jurisdiction.
“The right to registration exists independently of the ability to enforce the award in the jurisdiction.”
He also noted that ConocoPhillips has assured the court there would be no duplication in its enforcement of other arbitral awards against the state of Venezuela or entities that operate in the South American country.
Seepersad referred to a statement by former energy minister Stuart Young on a separate arbitral award registered in TT by ConocoPhillips against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, on sovereign immunity concerning the now dead Dragon gas deal.
Seepersad noted, “In any event, whatever position was articulated in Parliament as it relates to sovereign immunity for Venezuela will not, in this court's view, apply as it relates to the registration of the ICSID award, having regard to the position outlined in the Convention.”
The $11 billion award compensates ConocoPhillips for the forced takeover of its Petrozuata and Hamaca heavy-oil projects and the offshore Corocoro light oil project. These were among the most valuable energy assets seized during then-president Hugo Chávez’s nationalisation campaign in 2007.
In September 2024, ConocoPhillips took steps to recover a separate US$1.33 billion arbitration award against PDVSA. Seepersad had appointed a receiver to target any payments owed to PDVSA related to the Dragon gas project and future energy agreements, including the Manakin-Cocuina and Loran fields.While TT had previously secured US approval under OFAC sanctions to develop the fields. Those licences were revoked in April 2025.
The arbitration awards have been recognised in multiple jurisdictions.
The US oil giant was represented by Andrew Stafford, KC, Garvin Simmonette, Merrick Watson, Kamille Adhair Morgan and Sophia Vailoo.
More:
https://newsday.co.tt/2025/05/27/court- ... venezuela/
