ConocoPhillips has won a favorable court ruling in Trinidad and Tobago, enabling the company to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitration award against Venezuela. This development, reported by Reuters on May 29, has raised concerns over the potential impact on natural gas deals between Caracas and Port of Spain.

The Trinidad High Court, under Judge Frank Seepersad, ruled that ConocoPhillips can pursue the judgment if it identifies assets or funds owed to Venezuela by Trinidadian entities. This ruling could jeopardize proceeds from joint natural gas projects involving Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.

The judicial decision coincides with reports of a prospective joint venture among PDVSA, Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC), and BP to exploit the Cocuina-Manakin fields. These fields, located in the shared territorial waters of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, contain an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Despite fears, Trinidadian officials, including Energy Minister Stuart Young, have sought to reassure stakeholders that existing natural gas projects remain unaffected. Young emphasized that the government had not been formally notified of the court decision and would assess the validity of ConocoPhillips’ claims. He further asserted that the Dragon project, a significant venture involving Shell and NGC, was “not affected” by the ruling.

This dispute traces back to a 2018 arbitration award by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), granting ConocoPhillips $2 billion for the 2007 nationalization of its assets by Venezuela. While PDVSA and ConocoPhillips initially agreed on installment payments, US sanctions hindered Venezuela’s ability to meet its financial obligations, prompting ConocoPhillips to seek judicial recourse.

ConocoPhillips is also involved in the court-mandated auction of CITGO shares to satisfy creditor demands, with a Delaware court set to approve a winning bid in July. It remains unclear if the CITGO sale will nullify the Trinidad court’s seizure efforts.

ConocoPhillips’ arbitration claims have significantly influenced ongoing legal and financial battles, drawing controversy and highlighting the broader implications of international arbitration awards on nationalized assets.