ConocoPhillips Petrozuata B.V., ConocoPhillips Hamaca B.V. and ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria B.V. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela - ICSID Case No. ARB/07/30 - Award of the Tribunal - English - 8 March 2019
Country
Year
2019
Summary
Reproduced from www.worldbank.org/icsid with permission of ICSID.
XVI. Decision
The Tribunal incorporates by reference in this Award the Decision on Jurisdiction and the Merits dated 3 September 2013 and its Interim Decision dated 17 January 2017.
Based on the reasons stated above, the Tribunal decides:
1. That the Respondent, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, shall pay as compensation for the expropriation enforced on 26 June 2007 in breach of Article 6 of the Agreement on Encourage- ment and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Venezuela dated 22 October 1991, the following amounts to the Claimants:
a. ConocoPhillips Petrozuata B.V. (CPZ) US$ 3,386,079,057;
b. ConocoPhillips Hamaca B.V. (CPH) US$ 4,498,085,150; and
c. ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria B.V. (CGP) US$ 562,140,959.
2. The above mentioned amounts shall be paid together with interest at an annual rate of 5.5%, compounded annually, until the date of full and final payment of these amounts.
3. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall pay to ConocoPhillips Petrozuata B.V. (CPZ) the amount of US$ 286,740,989 based on the compensation provisions of the Petrozuata Associa- tion Agreement, together with simple interest until the date of full and final payment at 12-month LIBOR or any other comparable rate in case LIBOR should be discontinued in the future.
4. The claim of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to deduct from the Claimants' claim the amount of US$ 298 million as repayment of a service payment made to the Hamaca Project's lenders by PDVSA is dismissed.
5. The Tribunal declares that the Claimants are under an obligation based on the principle of good faith not to seek double recovery when seeking enforcement, in full or in part, of this Award beyond the amounts awarded by the Arbitral Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) through its Final Award dated 24 April 2018 (20549/ASM/JPA) between Phillips Petroleum Company Venezuela Limited, ConocoPhillips Petrozuata B.V. (claimants) and Petróleos de Vene- zuela, S.A., Corpoguanipa, S.A., PDVSA Petróleo, S.A. (respondents).
6. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall pay the Claimants (respectively the claimant company they designate) the amount of US$ 20,461,000 as contribution to the Claimants' legal fees and costs, together with simple interest at an annual rate of 3% until the date of full and final payment of this amount.
7. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall pay to the Claimants (respectively the claimant company they designate) the amount of US$ 1,400,000 representing the advances for costs to IC- SID paid by the Claimants in substitution for the Respondent, together with simple interest at an annual rate of 3% until the date of full and final payment of this amount. This amount shall be reduced by the balance refunded by ICSID to the Claimants.
8. Except for the amounts mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, each Party shall bear its advances for costs paid to ICSID and its own legal fees and costs.
9. Payment by the Respondent of the amounts awarded herein shall be made not later than 60 days after the issuance of the present Award. Interests on the amounts awarded will start to run at the expiration of the above mentioned 60-day period.
10. The Tribunal declares that (a) the Award is net of all applicable Venezuelan taxes; (b) Ven- ezuela shall not tax or attempt to tax the Award; (c) the Claimants have no further taxation obliga- tions to Venezuela in respect of the three Projects; and (d) in case taxes have nonetheless to be paid by the Claimants, the Respondent shall be liable to compensate the Claimants for the corresponding amount in such a way that the amount effectively received by the Claimants after deduction of all applicable taxes corresponds to the full amount (including interest) granted by this Tribunal.
11. To dismiss any other claim submitted by the Parties.
Prof. Andreas Bucher; L. Yves Fortier, QC; Eduardo Zuleta