Nicaragua Buys Esso
Standard Oil Tanks
Nicaragua has bought a
disputed fuel tank
facility from an Exxon
Mobil subsidiary to
store subsidized
Venezuelan oil,
President Daniel Ortega
said Thursday without
disclosing the terms of
the sale.
The Puerto Corinto
facility, previously
owned by Esso Standard,
a subsidiary of Irving,
Texas-based Exxon Mobil
Corp., will be used to
store 600,000 barrels of
oil a month, sent at a
discount by Ortega's
leftist ally President
Hugo Chavez.
Esso Standard will
continue operating
Nicaragua's only
refinery.
Ortega's government
failed to reach a deal
with the company on the
use of the tanks last
year, placing a lien on
Esso's assets and
claiming it owed back
taxes.
The two sides reached a
temporary oil storage
agreement in September,
and the lien was lifted.
Esso has since agreed to
pay back taxes and the
government has removed
its fines, said Bayardo
Arce, a financial
adviser to Ortega.
Joaquin Magalhaes,
general manager of Esso
Standard, confirmed the
sale of the tanks and
said the company had not
violated any laws.
Ortega imposed state
controls on Nicaragua's
economy during his first
turn as president in the
1980s, when he battled
U.S.-backed Contra
rebels.
Since his return to
office last year, he has
promised to protect
private property and
foreign investment, even
while cozying up to the
socialist Chavez. He
last month hinted he was
considering
nationalizing the
country's oil industry.
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