ConocoPhillips sues Venezuela's PDVSA, calls bond swap 'fraudulent

Subsidiaries of U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips have sued Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Delaware, according to a court filing, accusing it of fraudulent operations involving its U.S. subsidiary Citgo. ConocoPhillips said in an Oct. 6 filing PDVSA operations, including an ongoing bond swap that uses shares in Citgo Holding Inc as collateral, are part of an effort to prevent Conoco from collecting compensation in a dispute over a 2007 nationalization of its Venezuela holdings. ConocoPhillips has for nearly a decade been pursuing a case against Venezuela in a World Bank tribunal to obtain billions of dollars in compensation for the 2007 takeover of its Venezuela assets by late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. More…