Feb 14, 2011

(Reuters) – A
court in Ecuador’s Amazon told Chevron Corp on Monday to pay more than
$8 billion in environmental damages, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said, but
the U.S. oil giant will fight on in a suit seen as a global test case.

Chevron vowed to appeal,
meaning the long-running case — which dates from drilling in the Andean
nation during the 1970s and 1980s and has spawned accusations of dirty
tricks and bribery — could drag on for years more.

Activists
portray the case as a fight for justice against rich polluters but
Chevron says it is more to do with opportunism and greedy trial lawyers.
It has triggered related legal action in U.S. courts and international
arbitration.

“In many moments of
this long, difficult and costly battle, it appeared impossible to make
the dream a reality … apparently this story is beginning to change,”
Pablo Fajardo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an emailed
statement.

“First, (the judge) has
found that Chevron is responsible and guilty for the existing
environmental damage in the Amazon. Second, it has ordered Chevron to
pay the sum of more than $8 billion to repair the environmental damage.”

Chevron, however, has no assets in Ecuador, plans to appeal, and believes it is unlikely ever to pay.

Its
shares traded 1.3 percent higher to close at $96.95 on Monday as
investors shrugged off news of the court ruling. The stock had been
lifted by gains in crude oil, and analysts said a final verdict in the
court case was likely years away.

The
plaintiffs, who originally demanded $27 billion in the lawsuit, had
said they would try to grab Chevron assets around the world once armed
with a favorable judgment from the Lago Agrio court.

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