Latin Lawyer Notes Kelley Drye Among Law Firms in ​“Deal of the Year 2008”

Kelley Drye was noted as a law firm involved in the ​“Refinancing of Orinoco Oil Projects,” which Latin Lawyer selected as the winner of the restructuring category in the ​“Deal of the Year 2008.” Kelley Drye represented the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) as a trustee in two of the four separate joint ventures between Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA and foreign oil companies.

In the Sincor project, which was a ​“joint venture between PDVSA, French oil company Total, and Norway’s StatoilHydro,” partners Pamela Bruzzese-Szczygiel and David E. Retter were noted as BNYM’s counsel. In the Hamaca project, PDVSA’s joint venture with Chevron and ConocoPhillips, both Ms. Bruzzese-Szczygiel and Mr. Retter were noted.

The article chose the ​“Refinancing of Orinoco Oil Projects” as the winner because ​“it would be hard to beat the scale of effort required to restructure the US$4 billion outstanding debt after PDVSA took control of the oil projects in the Orinoco belt. But with a mammoth amount of negotiation, lawyers successfully addressed the financing structures of each of the four projects in one way or another.”