The new year...had a happy beginning for President Hugo Chavez....when an international court in Paris court ordered Caracas to pay...$908 million to Exxon/ Mobil...less than 1/10th of the nearly $10 billion it was seeking.
Yet...defiantly...the national oil company says it will pay...LESS than 1/3 of that amount...$255 million(AP/WSJ)!
It claims it is deducting debts owed by Exxon from the $908 million.
But PDVSA says it will pay the full $255m...in 60 days.
In 2007...Chavez nationalized 425 million barrels of Exxon's proved reserves...in the rich Orinoco belt.