Exxon (XOM) wins in Venezuela

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) has gotten courts to freeze $12 billion in assets in Venezuela, which might have been sold by the government there.

According to Reuters, "Exxon -- which last week posted the largest ever year's profit by a U.S. company -- said on Thursday it has received court orders in Britain, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles each freezing up to $12 billion in assets of Venezuela state oil firm PDVSA."

While oil companies rarely get public sympathy, the move is more than fair to Exxon. The government of unstable Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez had taken the assets from Exxon as part of a nationalization process. The move could complicate operations of Venezuela's local oil company, which co-owns some of the properties.

As more oil continues to come from unstable regions like Nigeria and Venezuela, the court decisions may give U.S. companies some leverage in keeping overseas assets. With the price of oil so high, local governments are going to find it more and more attractive to take a piece of Big Oil's pie.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.