Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., the biggest U.S. oil company pumping Venezuelan oil, is willing to work in the South American country under contracts that ban international arbitration in case of conflict, a company executive said.

“Attractive fiscal terms” are most important as the company decides on new projects, Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Latin America and Africa, said yesterday in an interview at a heavy oil conference at Margarita, Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez doesn’t want foreign courts or panels getting involved in disputes between his government and international energy companies. Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, the biggest and third-biggest U.S. oil companies, respectively, have asked arbitration panels in Europe and the U.S. to order Venezuela to compensate the companies for multi-billion dollar assets seized in 2007.

“There are many risks, but you have to look at the whole picture and see if it meets your requirements,” Moshiri said. “If you have more opportunity there and it meets your requirement for creating value, you carry on and you do it.”

San Ramon, California-based Chevron, one of the biggest foreign investors in Venezuela and the second-largest U.S. oil company, has minority stakes in joint ventures Petropiar and Petroboscan. Petropiar produces as much as 190,000 barrels of tar-like oil a day in the Orinoco Belt, removes sulfur and other contaminants, and exports crude. Petroboscan produces 115,000 barrels a day of heavy oil.

Exxon and ConocoPhillips, which had stakes in projects similar to Petropiar, filed for arbitration in 2007 amid Chavez’s nationalization drive. Chevron, along with France’s Total SA, Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA and London-based BP Plc, accepted Chavez’s terms and work with state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 09:59 EST