OIL DEAL

The American oil business Conoco Phillips has reached an agreement with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA to recover nearly £1.5bn it was awarded as part of a decadeold expropriation dispute.

PDVSA has agreed to make the first £390m payment within 90 days and the rest over a period of some four years.

Conoco will suspend legal actions to seize PDVSA’s facilities in the Dutch Antilles.