The ruling found that Exxon's legal actions failed to comply with U.S. law. | Photo: Reuters
The decision is the latest chapter in the ongoing battle between the multinational oil giant and Venezuela's socialist government.
ExxonMobil's attempts to enforce a US$188 judgment against Venezuela faced a surprising rejection Tuesday from a U.S. appeals court after the company's efforts to wrest compensation from the country for its 2007 nationalization of the oil industry failed to go through proper channels. The decision overturned a decision by a U.S. district court judge in New York who ruled to enforce the US$1.6 billion award, since reduced to about US$188 million, announced in October 2014 by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.The ruling, which sided with the argument presented by U.S. lawyers representing Venezuela, found that the company "did not serve Venezuela in accordance with the" Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in order to require a foreign government to respect an international arbitration decision and allow the company to collect the funds. Read the rest of the article on teleSUR English