This morning a judge tossed Exxon Mobile’s $12 billion asset freeze against Venezuela out of court, on the grounds that it was stupid. The U.S. State Department, you may remember, loudly supported Exxon in the case, which was probably the kiss of death for it in the first place.
UPDATE 9:45 am: It's going to cost 'em. “Exxon was ordered to make an interim payment of 380,000 pounds to cover legal costs within 21 days, although the final bill is expected to be much higher.” Heh.
UPDATE 11:30 am: The judge just released a preliminary statement of findings and hey guess what? Exxon basically had no business trying it in the U.K. to begin with, like we sorta noted two weeks ago. Oh and “Exxon said that it won't appeal the ruling.” Zing.
