Oct 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on

Friday to hear ExxonMobil's ( XOM ) bid to obtain compensation

from Cuban state-owned firms for oil and gas assets seized in

1960 under a federal law that lets Americans sue foreign

companies and individuals over property confiscated by the

communist-ruled Caribbean country.

The justices took up Exxon's appeal of a lower court's

ruling that undercut its legal efforts to win such compensation

from Cuban state-owned companies that allegedly have profited

from stolen property in litigation invoking a 1996 U.S. law

called the Helms-Burton Act.

The court also took up a similar bid by a

Delaware-registered company that built port facilities in Havana

seized in 1960 by Cuba's government to revive $440 million in

judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCLH )

and two other cruise lines that have used the terminal.

The Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in the cases

during its new nine-month term that starts on Monday.