ExxonMobil is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to receive more than $1 billion in compensation for oil and gas assets seized by the Cuban government in 1960. The case puts the justices at the center of a long-running dispute over U.S.-Cuba relations.

The legal battle involves the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, which allows Americans to sue anyone profiting from property confiscated by Cuba after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Exxon says Cuban state-owned companies continue to benefit from the assets and that it is owed compensation.

A lower court had ruled that Cuban companies could claim “foreign sovereign immunity,” shielding them from U.S. lawsuits unless exceptions apply. Exxon, backed by the Trump administration, argues that this reading weakens the Helms-Burton Act and prevents Americans from pursuing claims.

“The lower court’s interpretation effectively cancels the mechanism Congress created,” said Curtis Gannon of the U.S. Justice Department.

“Reversing this decision is needed to protect U.S. interests and encourage democratic change in Cuba.”
Some Supreme Court justices, including Elena Kagan, questioned whether Congress intended to remove foreign sovereign immunity in this way.

The case is connected to another dispute involving four cruise lines – Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and MSC Cruises over docks in Havana originally built by a U.S. company. A federal court had ordered the cruise lines to pay $440 million, but an appeals court threw out the ruling because the dock lease had expired before the cruise lines used it.

Exxon’s original losses were valued at $70 million, but interest and potential enhanced damages push the current claim above $1 billion. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on both cases by the end of June.