A panel of three international arbitrators has found that United States oil company Chevron is not liable for “collective damage” claims in the company’s ongoing dispute over oil contamination in parts of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. The panel reportedly found that a 1995 agreement signed by Chevron’s predecessor, Texaco Corporation, released the oil giant from such liability. Still, the panel of arbitrators did not rule whether Chevron may be held liable for any damages endured by individual claimants.
As Disputing discussed in a related blog post, the panel was convened after Chevron successfully filed for arbitration of the company’s environmental dispute with the Republic of Ecuador under the rules of UNCITRAL by claiming it was allowed by a U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty. Prior to arbitration, an Ecuador court issued a $19 billion judgment against Chevron. The company refused to pay the judgment and the panel of arbitrators is scheduled to address whether it was procured through fraud in January 2014.
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