ConocoPhillips Co. asked a New York federal court on Friday to seize control of billions of dollars in legal claims asserted by Venezuela’s indebted state oil company against foreign oil traders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Houston-based ConocoPhillips sued a legal trust created to bring multibillion-dollar commercial tort claims on behalf of Petroleós de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, surrounding an alleged corruption scheme involving dozens of oil trading companies, banks and individuals. PdVSA set up the trust as a vehicle for prosecuting those claims, earmarking 66 percent of the potential proceeds for New York law firms that agreed to front legal costs. The remaining 34 percent is available to PdVSA, the trust’s beneficiary. ConocoPhillips said that the arrangement is designed to evade PdVSA’s creditors, shielding the legal claims from seizure while eventually repatriating any recoveries back to Venezuela.
