The rig had been under contract to Petrosucre, a subsidiary of Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA, until Ensco terminated the contract for non-payment in June 2009. Petrosucre responded that it would continue to operate the rig without Ensco's consent. After more than a year of occupying the rig, Ensco personnel were allowed to retrieve it and it is now stationed in Trinidad.
There's an expression for when you take something that doesn't belong to you: I believe it's called stealing nationalizing private assets. Now as any Hollywood type will tell you, of course PDVSA has the right to not pay for the use of a vessel it signed a contract to utilize. Only evil capitalists honor financial commitments.
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