Venezuela seeks to present new arguments and evidence upon the decision last week of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which found that Venezuela acted in bad faith in the negotiation over ConocoPhillips' seized assets.

Rafael Ramírez, Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and Mining, has reported that the information released by Wikileaks shows that Conoco's President James Mulva told the US Embassy in Caracas that Venezuela had acted in good faith in the negotiation related to claims arising out of the seizure of Conoco's assets in projects Hamaca and Petrozuata at the Orinoco Oil Belt, and a project in Corocoro, Gulf of Paria.

The minister of petroleum said Venezuelan authorities are to send some documents and letters to the Icsid's panel for it to reconsider Venezuela's position and Conoco's claim.

Regarding ConocoPhillips' claim, Ramírez stressed, "We do not agree with Venezuela being a hostage of business. There are too many irregularities relative to Conoco's deals: a chief of Maraven signed a letter telling Conoco that if Venezuela cut production, Conoco would be compensated. That is illegal."http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130910/conoco-said-to-have-told-us-embassy-about-venezuelas-acting-in-good-fa