CARACAS—Venezuela on Tuesday suspended oil exports to Exxon Mobil Corp, escalating the country's fight with the U.S. oil giant over compensation for a heavy crude project nationalized by socialist President Hugo Chavez.
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA said it had suspended commercial relations and halted the supply of crude and petroleum products to Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. company.
"Faced with the legal-economic harassment started by Exxon Mobil against PDVSA and as an act of reciprocity, PDVSA has decided to suspend commercial relations," the Venezuelan company said in a statement.
The South American country's move against Exxon Mobil came after the U.S. company won temporary court rulings freezing up to $12 billion in Venezuelan assets in a fight over payment for the nationalized heavy crude project.
But PDVSA said it would not break certain contracts with Exxon, an apparent reference to the jointly owned Chalmette refinery in Louisiana.
in November 2007
NEW YORK—Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has suspended oil exports to Exxon Mobil in retaliation for the U.S. oil company's legal action which resulted in temporary court rulings freezing billions of dollars of Venezuelan assets.
PDVSA said it will honor existing contracts relating to shared overseas investments with Exxon. The two share a refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana.
Following is a list of crude oil imports by Exxon Mobil for November 2007, based on data from the U.S. government.
All figures in 1,000s of barrels per day.
| Port City | Volume |
| Port Arthur, TX | 18 |
| Texas City, TX | 18 |
| Morgan City, LA | 54 |
| New Orleans, LA (Chalmette) * | 77 |
It was not immediately clear what PDVSA would do with the excess crude that would normally go to Exxon Mobil.
Venezuela's announcement pushed oil prices higher in late trading on Tuesday, after prices declined during regular activity. Oil had surged on Monday after Chavez threatened to curtail oil supplies to the United States.
In 2007, Chavez increased state control over several projects in the Orinoco oil belt and forced Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips out of the country.
The left-wing president, who accuses Exxon of being a proxy for Washington, told cheering supporters on a television program on Sunday that he would cut off all oil supplies to the United States if it continued its "economic war" on Venezuela.
Exxon, which said it could not immediately comment on the news, produced an average of 4.253 million bpd in the fourth quarter on 2007.
Venezuela earlier said it was considering suing Exxon for "damages to the nation," in part because Venezuelan bond prices plummeted after the asset freeze.
Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates oil consultants, described Venezuela's latest move as "saber-rattling."
"It is to Venezuela's interest to keep oil prices high and its response to the Exxon Mobil asset freeze orders has done just that."
The Chalmette refinery in Louisiana is a joint venture between Exxon and PDVSA that was built to take crude from the Cerro Negro project that Exxon was ejected from in 2007.
In an apparent reference to refinery, PDVSA said it would respect existing contracts governing shared investments with Exxon. PDVSA said it reserved the right to break contracts whose terms so allowed.
Earlier on Tuesday, Exxon said it was interested in holding substantive talks with Venezuela to negotiate fair compensation for seizure of the project based in one of the world's largest oil deposits.
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