An international arbitration body has awarded Exxon Mobil Corp nearly $US908 million ($A898.30 million) in a dispute with Venezuela over compensation for the nationalisation of its assets, the company says.
Exxon Mobil sought arbitration after President Hugo Chavez's government nationalised an oil project in the country in 2007.
The decision by the International Chamber of Commerce confirmed that state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA "does have a contractual liability to Exxon Mobil," company spokesman Patrick McGinn said in an email. He said the award was for $US907,588,000 ($A897.89 million).
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Venezuelan government officials did not respond to messages on Sunday seeking comment.
"The dispute is not over Venezuela's power to expropriate assets, but rather the failure of PDVSA to comply with contractual provisions to compensate Exxon Mobil," McGinn said.
The Irving, Texas-based oil company still has another arbitration case pending against Venezuela before the World Bank-affiliated International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID.
More than a dozen other arbitration cases involving Venezuela are also pending as companies have sought billions of dollars in
compensation in response to nationalisations by Chavez's leftist government.
The Caracas-based consulting firm Ecoanalitica estimated recently, before the latest Exxon Mobil decision, that the bulk of the government's nationalisations involved more than $US33.7 billion ($A33.34 billion) in assets, including about $US23 billion
($A22.75 billion) in outstanding obligations.
Venezuela has reached negotiated settlements on payments to some other companies.
Last month, Mexican cement company Cemex SAB said Venezuela agreed to pay $US600 million ($A593.59 million) for the 2008 takeover of the company's operations in the country.
