07/01/09
Oil Giant Had Tried to Lobby USTR Over $27 Billion Environmental Liability in Ecuador’s Amazon
WASHINGTON, DC (July 1, 2009) – In a setback over its attempt to avoid a $27 billion environmental liability, Chevron has failed for the third time in as many years to convince the Obama and Bush administrations to cancel bilateral trade benefits for Ecuador in retaliation for letting indigenous groups sue the oil giant in that country’s courts.
Ecuador’s trade benefits were automatically renewed for six months at midnight when the Obama Administration failed to initiate a review of the issue, despite intense Chevron lobbying in Congress and at the office of the United States Trade Representative. Chevron had hired two former U.S. trade ambassadors – Mickey Kantor and Carla Hills – to approach officials at the agency they formerly headed to seek a cancellation of the benefits, but to no avail.
If Chevron had succeeded in canceling the benefits, Ecuador’s government estimated the country would have lost 350,000 jobs. Similar lobbying efforts by Chevron -- last year and in 2006 -- to enlist U.S. trade policy a pressure point in the private lawsuit met stiff opposition from a number of Senators and Congressmen, and also failed.
The extension of the benefits comes just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Chevron’s attempt to appeal a decision that prevented it from arbitrating the liability with Petroecuador, Ecuador’s state-owned oil company. The company is also being investigated by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to determine if it misled shareholders about its financial risk in Ecuador.
The long history of the case appears to be haunting Chevron as it suffers a series of setbacks in courts, with regulatory agencies, and in the media. The company was recently the subject of unflattering reports on 60 Minutes and in several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
While it now claims it is not receiving a fair trial, Chevron had fought for nine years to transfer the legal case to Ecuador after it was originally filed in 1993 in U.S. federal court in New York. As a condition of the transfer, Chevron agreed to submit to jurisdiction and be bound by any ruling in Ecuador. The company also submitted 14 sworn affidavits praising the fairness of Ecuador’s courts.
Once the trial in Ecuador started in 2003 and the evidence pointed to Chevron’s culpability, the company launched a public relations and lobbying campaign to discredit Ecuador’s courts and pressure Ecuador’s government to quash the case. The threat of U.S. trade policy was the primary “weapon” Chevron chose to create leverage with Ecuador’s more...
06/29/09
WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2009) – Four U.S. Senators are urging the United States Trade Representative to reject efforts by Chevron to threaten the cancellation of trade benefits for Ecuador because the oil giant faces a $27.3 billion liability in the South American natio
06/29/09
WASHINGTON - June 29, 2009--(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't decide whether an Ecuadorian oil company can be held partially responsible in a $27 billion case against its former business partner, Texaco Petroleum Co., a unit of Chevron Corp.
06/24/09
Latest Report Clears Path to Final Decision
QUITO, Ecuador (June 24, 2009)–Evidence that two Chevron lawyers committed fraud in Ecuador apparently has grown stronger with a new court-ordered report finding extensive levels of toxic contamination.
06/19/09
Chevron Chief Clearly Uncomfortable With Ecuador Topic
QUITO, Ecuador (June 16, 2009) – Amazonian leaders in Ecuador are blasting Chevron CEO David O’Reilly for engaging in “lies and deceit” during a public debate last week in San Francisco over energy-related topic that included the company’s expected $27.3 billion liability in Ecuador.
06/10/09
Refuses to Talk About Ecuador at Commonwealth Club in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, (June 10, 2009)--Chevron CEO David O’Reilly is refusing to appear at a public debate tonight unless the Ecuador issue is taken off the table as a discussion topic.06/09/09
QUITO, Ecuador (June 09, 2009)--A new analysis of shareholder votes at Chevron’s annual meeting in late May indicates the company’s management suffered a far more serious rebuke over its growing human rights problems in Ecuador and elsewhere than originally had been reported, representatives of the Amazon Defense Coalition said today.
05/27/09
$9B In Chevron Shares Ended Up Defying Company Management
San Ramon, CA (May 27, 2009) – In the days ahead of its annual meeting, Chevron’s management engaged in a fierce and unconventional lobbying campaign to convince shareholders to defeat a shareholder resolution over the company’s potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador.
05/27/09
Refuses to Let Board Members Answer Own Questions as Conflict of Interest Becomes Evident
San Ramon , CA (May 27, 2009) – Several large investors blasted Chevron CEO David O’Reilly today at the company’s annual meeting for mishandling a potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador.
05/27/09
$27 Billion Liability in Ecuador “Poorly Handled” By Chevron’s Top Management, Analyst Tells Leading Trade Publication
New York, NY (May 27, 2009) – Platt’s Oilgram News, the leading trade publication for the oil industry, is reporting that “momentum seems to be growing against Chevron” in the long-running environmental case in Ecudor.
