Venezuela: PDVSA faces ruin as arbitration proceedings pile up

[social_critic]

The arbitration case ExxonMobil versus PDVSA is nearly finished, the court should decide within the next 6 monthas or so. If it loses, PDVSA would have to pay EM about $7 billion US dollars. Other cases are also being arbitrated, such as ConocoPhillips versus PDVSA. An additional three cases have just been filed against PDVSA.

The problems PDVSA faces are multifold, because not only do they have to argue them in court and possibly lose them, they are gradually losing their ability to contract foreign companies to work in their oil fields and plants, and this is slowly reducing the fields' ability to produce oil and gas. The problem is compounded by the flight of professionals from Venezuela, due to the regime's anti democratic stance and human rights abuses, as well as the poor state of the economy.

This is a reference in Spanish:

http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/02/21/eco_art_pdvsa-debera-afronta_2196583.shtml