CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has requested the annulment of a World Bank tribunal award that orders it pay Exxon Mobil Corp (>> Exxon Mobil Corporation) $1.6 billion in compensation for nationalizations, both sides said on Wednesday.

"Venezuela has filed an application for annulment," the country's lawyer George Kahale told Reuters in an email, adding he didn't know yet when the tribunal was likely to issue a decision on the request.

"The first step is for the appointment of the committee to hear the annulment application, and that has not happened yet," said the lawyer with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP.

"The schedule for the annulment process will not be determined until after the committee is appointed."

Exxon said earlier on Wednesday the South American OPEC country had filed for an annulment of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes award on Feb. 2.

"The application alleges that, in issuing the ICSID award, the Tribunal exceeded its powers, failed to state reasons on which the ICSID award was based, and departed from a fundamental rule of procedure," Exxon said in its 10-K filing.

ICSID says on its web site that "annulment is an exceptional recourse to safeguard against the violation of fundamental legal principles relating to the process."

Venezuela had also requested revisions to the award because it argues a previous decision from Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce for $908 million should be deducted from the ICSID award.

The appeals for an annulment and revisions have led to stays on the award, Exxon said.

Delays to the enforcement of hefty arbitration awards grant the government of Nicolas Maduro some breathing room as it struggles with a tumble in oil prices, arrears with private companies, debt payments, and campaigns for this year's parliamentary election.

The high-profile compensation case is typical of the sweeping nationalizations during late president Hugo Chavez's 14-year rule.

Chavez nationalized a range of oil projects, including the Cerro Negro heavy crude project and a smaller project called La Ceiba, both operated by Exxon.

U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips (>> ConocoPhillips) has also filed for arbitration over the takeover of its oil projects in Venezuela.

Requests for comments from the Venezuelan government and ICSID went unanswered.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Chris Reese)

Stocks treated in this article : Exxon Mobil Corporation, ConocoPhillips