4-3-08 by dugan
Great big lawsuits move at a snail’s pace, and it could be years before the accusations that Chevron/Texaco grossly polluted the Ecuadoran Amazon are decided. Still, an Ecuadoran court expert’s study calling for up to $16 billion in penalties has got to be causing shivers in San Ramon, Chevron’s California HQ.
It’s not a potential loss that Chevron ever reflects in its accounting, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a real shareholder threat. The Ecuador case is all part of what I call the "dictator penalty," the ultimate cost of cozying up to corrupt regimes around the world in the cause of oil.
The potential loss goes way beyond dollars, particularly if we count the loss of American status and influence in the world. You can bet that Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez takes advantage of every U.S. oil company wrongdoing to defend his own grab of U.S. oil assets in the Orinoco.