'... I think the fact that Venezuela has participated in the process so far indicates that they are reluctantly planning to abide by the decision.'
-- IntLawGrrl guest/alumna Andrea K. Bjorklund (below left), Professor of Law at the University of California-Davis, in an ABA Journal article entitled "Exxon Mobil’s Dispute with Venezuela Has Global Implications." Andrea's quote explained the position of the Venezuelan government in Exxon Mobil v. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, a dispute stemming from the 2007 nationalization, on orders of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez , of in-country holdings of 2 mega-oil-companies, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips. (credit for 2007 photo at Venezuelan oil site) A 3-judge panel from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a Washington-based institution of the World Bank, is hearing the matter. Exxon Mobil, in the words of the ABA Journal's reporter, "quietly restructured its Venezuela assets through a Dutch holding
company" in 2005, has invoked a Venezuela-Netherlands bilateral investment treaty, or BIT. At stake are billions of dollars -- and what Andrea calls the "'de facto precedent'" likely to be issued on questions of proper compensation for expropriated investment.
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