( March 18, 2024, 11:29 AM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D. C. — The U. S. Supreme Court on March 18 granted a joint motion to defer consideration of a U. S. oil company’s petition for a writ of certiorari challenging the affirmance of an award against it worth more than $392 million in favor of an oil investor owned by a Chinese company issued in relation to a $1 billion Ecuadorian oil dispute involving the parties, after the parties jointly moved to defer consideration citing a settlement of their dispute. . . .