The playbook is simple — collect first, consider production later.Cash Before CrudeOn the fourth quarter earnings call, CEO Ryan Lance cut through the geopolitics with one line that matters more than any production forecast:"Our focus remains on trying to get the recovery that has owed us from the two judgments that we have in place."Translation for investors: Conoco's Venezuelan upside is legal, not operational. Years after its assets were expropriated, the company is pursuing cash through courts, settleme ...