Nicaragua to Rent
Disputed Tanks of Exxon
Mobil
The Nicaraguan
government has agreed to
rent — and later
probably buy — a fuel
tank facility owned by
an Exxon Mobil
subsidiary that is
needed to store
Venezuelan oil, ending a
bitter dispute.
Under the agreement
signed late Friday,
President Daniel
Ortega's leftist
government will rent
tanks at the Pacific
coast port of Puerto
Corinto from Esso
Standard Oil until Dec.
31 to store oil sold to
Nicaragua on
preferential terms by
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez.
The subsidiary of
Texas-based Exxon Mobil
said it will continue
operating its refinery,
the only one in
Nicaragua. The company
reportedly stands to
profit from refining the
Venezuelan crude.
"The next step will be
to sign the sale
agreement for these
facilities" with
Nicaragua's state-run
oil company Petronic,
said Joaquin Magalhaes,
general manager for Esso
Standard.
"After that, we will be
working on that last
stage of the agreement,
for supplying crude (to
the refinery), which we
are really trying to
speed up ... in the
interests of Nicaragua
and also in our own
interest," said
Magalhaes, who signed
the agreement.
The dispute began after
Nicaragua's government
and Esso Standard failed
to reach a deal on use
of the tanks. At one
point, the government
placed a lien on the
company's assets,
arguing it owed back
taxes.
The two sides reached a
temporary agreement for
oil storage in
September, and the lien
on the tanks was lifted.
It was unclear whether
the tax issues had been
resolved or would be
factored into a sale
price should the tanks
be sold.
Ortega hinted earlier
this month that he was
considering
nationalizing the
country's oil import
industry.
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 in January, he
has maintained relations
with the U.S. and
promised to protect
private property and
foreign investment,
while also cozying up to
Chavez, one of the
United States' most
outspoken critics. |
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