PDVSA says Exxon's asset freeze based on fantasy

[Judi Lynn]

PDVSA says Exxon's asset freeze based on fantasy
Sat Mar 1, 2008 12:40am GMT

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA told a UK court on Friday that a $12 billion (6 billion pound) freeze on its assets should not have been granted to Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) as the oil major's arguments were "sheer fantasy land."

PDVSA lawyer Gordon Pollock said the amount frozen was excessive. He said a claim that PDVSA would try to hide its assets was not credible and the English court which awarded the freeze had exceeded its jurisdiction.

Pollock said the $12 billion figure Exxon asked to be frozen was based on adding up all the projected cash flows of the Venezuelan heavy oil project seized by President Hugo Chavez as part of his nationalisation drive, without any discount made for the fact they run to 2035.

He said this argument was "simply economically and financially illiterate."

More:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKL2927885420080301?rpc=401&