Brazil judges uphold Chevron, Transocean operating ban

Πηγή: Reuters
By Jeb Blount
August 28 2012


* Judges say state ANP regulator shares blame for accident
* Transocean to use all legal means necessary to overturn

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 28 - An injunction banning No. 2 U.S. oil company Chevron Corp and its drilling contractor Transocean Ltd from operating in Brazil while charges over last November's oil spill are considered was upheld by a panel of three federal judges on Tuesday.

In a strongly-worded decision that could also hurt state-run giant Petrobras, the judges said Chevron and the government's ANP regulator could have but failed to prevent the spill at the Frade offshore field northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

Chevron had "an insufficient culture of safety" and ANP "contributed to the accident by failing to do its job as a regulator," judge Ricardo Perlingeiro said as he read the decision from the bench at the courthouse in Rio de Janiero.

The decision will have little immediate effect on Chevron, which shut Frade, its only field in Brazil, in March. It has since asked the ANP to restart operations.

The companies can still go to the nation's top appeals court in the capital, Brasilia.

It could impact Petrobras, which counts on Transocean to drill some of its most important prospects, however.

"This case is without merit, and Transocean crews acted responsibly and quickly, following the highest industry standards. We have a very strong case and we will use every legal means necessary to prove it," Guy Cantwell, the director of corporate communications said in an email.

He said Transocean rigs continued to operate in Brazil.

Chevron and the ANP were not immediately available for comment.

Chevron owns 52 percent of Frade and is the operator. Brazilian state-led Petrobras owns 30 percent and Frade Japao, a group made up of Japan's Inpex Corp and Sojitz Corp, owns 18 percent.

Chevron: The Toxic Threat Next Door

Chevron's Richmond refinery fire.

Πηγή: Common Dreams
By Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
August 18 2012

When the fire broke out at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California last week, this is what families living nearby–including some of our own staff at Green For All–experienced: Their windows rattled and their houses shook. Some of them watched fiery explosions and plumes of dark smoke pour from the refinery. Others just heard the frightening wail of the city’s emergency sirens. They gathered up their children and pets, covered their mouths and noses, and scrambled to seal their doors and windows.

Across the Bay, San Francisco residents watched as a toxic black cloud billowed over Richmond–a city in which 85 percent of the residents are minorities and roughly one-quarter live below the poverty line.

In the days after the fire, more than 9,000 people poured into emergency rooms, complaining of nausea, headaches, and breathing problems. Chevron, meanwhile, offered an apology for the “disruption.”

I wish that were enough. Enough to erase the terror that workers and families experienced that day. Enough to prevent the potentially long-term illnesses they face as a result of breathing those toxic fumes. And I wish it were enough to undo the health problems that Richmond’s families have faced for years.

The truth is, it doesn’t take a massive explosion to send folks in this neighborhood to the hospital. Here, next door to the refinery–which has consistently violated the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act–rates of ovarian, prostate, and breast cancer are among the highest in the state, along with incidents of childhood asthma.

But it’s not just about Richmond. Across America, hundreds of other cities choke in the shadow of dangerous, polluting oil operations. Who lives in these cities and neighborhoods? By and large, people of color. In California, a staggering 62 percent of residents living near polluting oil refineries, cement plants, and power plants are people of color. Not surprisingly, rates of asthma are dramatically higher in these communities: One out of every six African-American children in this country suffers from asthma, compared with one in ten nationwide.

No one–whether they’re from Richmond or anywhere else–should have to live in fear of this kind of disaster. They shouldn’t be forced to breathe toxic fumes or drink polluted water just because companies like Chevron refuse to clean up their act. This is a corporation, after all, that raked in almost $27 billion in profits last year–but failed to spend any of it to fix the leaky 40 year-old pipe that almost cost its workers and neighbors their lives.

But we don’t need to wait around for Chevron to do what’s right. We have a choice. We can embrace cleaner, safer, healthier forms of energy and leave oil where it belongs–in the last century.

The first step is to stop rewarding companies like Chevron and BP with billions in subsidiesfrom taxpayers’ pockets while we ask hardworking Americans–especially low-income and minority kids–to pay the price with their health. Instead, we should invest in forms of energy that don’t pollute our air and water.

This isn’t a distant dream; the clean energy revolution is already well underway. Over the past four years, America’s wind and solar sectors have grown substantially–wind power has doubled and solar increased six-fold–enough to power 15 million homes. We’re less dependent on fossil fuels than we have been in decades. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that clean energy and other industries that protect our air and water already employ roughly 3.1 million Americans in safe, good-paying jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.

Many of these are the type of jobs that create pathways into the middle class–and out of poverty. They’re exactly the type of jobs that can transform communities like Richmond.

The fight for clean energy is not just an environmental issue. It’s a human rights issue.

Every child deserves to breathe clean air and drink clean water. No matter whether they’re rich or poor, no matter whether they’re black, white, Asian, or Latino. We all deserve to live without the fear of a toxic disaster next door. It’s that simple. But in this country, people of color have shouldered the burden of polluting industries for too long–and it’s time to stop.

All we have to do is decide: Do we stand by and wait for the next oil disaster? Do we sit quietly while our kids struggle to breathe? Do we continue to spend our hard-earned dollars rewarding companies like Chevron with subsidies and tax breaks? Or do we change the game?

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Green For All.

Lawsuit Says Chevron Was ‘Grossly Negligent’ Leading Up To Refinery Fire

Smoke rises from the Richmond Chevron refinery fire. 

Πηγή: CBS (SF)
August 15 2012

RICHMOND (CBS SF) — Three Bay Area attorneys filed a lawsuit against Chevron on Wednesday, claiming the oil company was “grossly negligent” in its handling of maintenance leading up to the massive Aug. 6 fire at its Richmond refinery that sent thousands of local residents to hospitals.

Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris teamed with San Francisco-based lawyers Matthew Kumin and Patrick Goggin to file the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of nine Richmond residents, including three children, who have allegedly suffered illnesses, emotional distress and other hardships due to the fire.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Burris told reporters and local residents that Chevron could have avoided the fire and thick smoke that sent several thousand people to the hospital with respiratory illnesses, headaches, nausea and other symptoms.

“This is a willful disregard, in many ways, of a dangerous situation,” he said.

The lawsuit alleges that Chevron could have avoided the explosion and fire sparked by a leaky oil pipe if they had implemented “proper safety measures and a timely response.”

Burris said Chevron’s “failure to act immediately with urgency when the leak was initially discovered was unconscionable. Chevron’s conduct needlessly placed the health of thousands at risk.”

The three attorneys said they hope the lawsuit will require Chevron to beef up safety measures to prevent another accidental release of pollutants.

North Richmond resident Charles Simmons, 67, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said he wants to see Chevron held accountable for the fire that caused himself and his two young children to suffer a range of persistent symptoms. He said that he and his family have suffered respiratory symptoms since moving to North Richmond two years ago.

“Since we’ve been in this area, we’ve had a tremendous bout of coughing that hasn’t stopped,” he said.

Other plaintiffs named in the lawsuit also allegedly suffered from illnesses prompted by the fire including problems breathing, wheezing, fever and a seizure, according to the complaint.

Since the fire, about 8,800 local residents have filed liability claims to reimburse medical fees and property damage through a process set up by Chevron days after the blaze, according to Chevron spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie. Some 7,500 people have filed claims via a phone hotline, while 1,300 have filed a claim in person at a help center set up by Chevron that opened last week at the Nevin Community Center.

Chevron officials say they hope to reimburse the claims within a month.

The attorneys who filed the suit against the oil giant Wednesday cautioned residents who have filed such claims not to sign any waiver that might prevent them from pursuing further legal action against Chevron.

Ritchie said again Wednesday that Chevron is not asking anyone filing a claim to give up the right to a potential lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s investigation into the refinery fire is on hold while engineers work to make the site of the accident safe for investigators.

At a news conference Tuesday, CSB Managing Director Daniel Horowitz said the leaky steel pipe that led to the Aug. 6 fire and was a “near disaster” for workers on site could have been replaced in November. He said investigators planned to find out why the pipe was not replaced during a round of routine maintenance and why the pipe ultimately failed.

U.S. oil giant signs deal with Iraqi Kurds, defies central authority

This file photo shows an oil facility in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Kurdistan regional government signed an oil deal with Chevron which will search for oil in six areas

Πηγή: Hurriyet Daily News
July 21 2012

Chevron has signed a deal with Kurdish Regional government becoming the second US oil company to secure oil agreements with Kurds in conflict with Baghdad.

U.S. oil giant Chevron announced July 19 that it had signed a deal with Iraqi Kurds to explore for oil in their northern region, defying the Iraqi central government which itself wants to control the area’s oil wealth. Turkey has also developed energy ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), straining its relations with Baghdad

The agreement makes Chevron the second U.S. company to secure oil deals with Kurds in conflict with Baghdad, after Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed last October to search for oil in six areas, the Associated Press reported July 20.

Baghdad wants to manage its energy resources nationwide and have the final say on all oil and gas deals. Kurds argue that the constitution allows them to draw up development plans independently and award deals without going through the oil ministry.

Chevron, based in California, said in a statement it would take over India’s Reliance Exploration and Production efforts to explore for oil in the Rovi and Sarta blocks. Chevron will hold 80 percent of the contract while Austria’s OMV AG will hold the rest. The blocks are located north of the regional capital, Arbil, and cover a combined area of approximately 1,124 square kilometers.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the country’s Kurds have signed over 50 relatively small deals. But the entry of Exxon Mobil and now Chevron may be a game changer leading to de facto policies that the Kurds have long sought.

Iraq’s post-invasion governments have until recently blacklisted energy companies that signed contracts with the KRG to prevent them from working elsewhere in the country or purchasing crude oil. Chevron has no deals with the Baghdad government.

Later on July 19, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office said it had received a “positive and convincing” letter from President Barack Obama about Exxon Mobil’s oil plans in the Kurdish region, where Baghdad wants it to cease operations.

Al-Maliki’s statement did not directly quote from the letter, and his office did not provide a copy of it. It called on the company to meet “recommendations of the Iraqi government and the recommendations of the U.S. administration regarding this issue.” The statement also implied that Obama would side with Baghdad on the dispute, saying his letter “stressed respect of the constitution, and Iraqi laws, along the same lines the Iraqi government is working.”

Turkey’s energy deals

Meanwhile, Turkey has inked energy deals with the KRG despite harsh criticism from central Iraqi government officials, in a move to offset decreasing crude and gas flow from Iran due to international sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.

Siyah Kalem, a Turkish engineering and construction company, has bid to transport natural gas from the Kurdish region, which was recently approved by The Energy Ministry and the Foreign Ministry of Turkey. Ankara and Arbil also admitted the beginning of oil trade in early July, a move conducted by the private sector, Turkish Energy Taner Yıldız said, referring to oil refiner Tüpraş.

“Turkey must stop the unauthorized export of oil through its land,” Iraqi spokesman Ali Dabbagh said July 15. Turkey dismissed demands ceasing transfers of crude oil from the KRG, saying that such trade was legal.

However, Turkey and Baghdad have not refrained from closer ties in energy in these tense political circumstances. Iraq signed an initial deal with a Turkey-Kuwait consortium to drill for oil and natural gas on July 16. Another warm step between the two countries was the disclosure of plans to ship oil from Basra, Iraq’s oil and gas rich southern province to Turkey, via a pipeline.

Chevron, Transocean in $11bn Brazil oil suit

The Chevron corporate logo is displayed at a Washington D.C. gas station January 11, 2010.

Πηγή: Business Report
By Reuters
Dec 15 2011

Brazilian prosecutors sued Chevron Corp, the No. 2 US oil company, and top offshore oil rig operator Transocean Ltd for 20 billion reais ($10.6 billion) over their alleged roles in a November oil spill near Rio de Janeiro.

The civil suit filed by federal prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro state also seeks to suspend the companies from operating in Brazil, the prosecutor's office said in a statement on its website on Wednesday, a move that could halt operations of the 10 Transocean offshore drilling rigs operating in the country.

“During investigations the prosecutors found that Chevron and Transocean were not capable of controlling the damages caused by the leakage,” the statement said. “This is evidence of a lack of planning and environmental management by the companies.”

Some legal experts said the action may be a politically motivated suit that could be difficult to win given Brazil's extensive oil regulations, the case's technical complexity and the lack of evidence to date of serious negligence or wrongdoing.

The case will add to already-large legal headaches for both companies. Chevron has already faced years of litigation over alleged pollution by Texaco, a company it bought, in Ecuador's Amazon region decades ago.

Chevron was ordered by Ecuadorean courts in February to pay damages of $18 billion. The suit is now under appeal in Ecuador, and the dispute is also being reviewed by an international arbitration tribunal. Transocean was the rig operator in the giant four-billion-barrel Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

The suit could also jeopardise oil companies' plans to step up their presence in Brazil after the discovery of huge offshore reserves several kilometres (miles) beneath the ocean floor estimated at 50 billion barrels or more.

Reaching that oil will be technically challenging but Brazil expects it will push its crude output to 7 million barrels a day by 2020. That could see it challenge the United States for the rank of world No. 3 oil producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia.

It also risks alarming foreign oil companies eager to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing oil frontiers, where state-controlled oil company Petrobras accounts for more than 90 percent of the output, and government leaders are moving to assert even greater control of natural resources.

Chevron, which has said it takes full responsibility for the spill, said it has not received any formal notice of the suit and that the spill was staunched in four days with minimal or no damage to the environment.

Transocean had similar comments.

“We have not received a formal notice of this action. At present, our rigs are operating in Brazilian waters and we continue to cooperate with the authorities,” it said in a statement to Reuters.

Chevron shares ended nearly 3 percent lower on Wednesday while Transocean stock fell 3.9 percent, both on the New York Stock Exchange.

“NEW TERRITORY”

“We are really entering new territory here,” said Marilda Rosado De Sa Ribeiro, a lawyer and former official at Brazil's oil agency, the ANP. “There are high hurdles to make a technical case like this work, but the public prosecutors are professional and serious.”

The government of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has been expanding the funding and training of the public prosecutors' office, helping the prosecutors realise their constitutional role as national watchdog and win more high-profile cases against corruption and environmental wrongdoing, said the lawyer, a partner at Doria, Jacobina, Rosado, Godinho in Rio de Janeiro.

On the other hand Brazil's legal system allows a large number of appeals and few major cases are settled quickly, meaning that even if successful, Chevron and Transocean could operate for years before facing any fine or sanction.

San Ramon, California-based Chevron has already assumed responsibility for leaking what it estimates at 2,400 barrels of oil into water off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. It has been fined $28 million by environmental authorities for the spill, and its local president has made a public apology before Congress.

The public outrage at Chevron, which did no damage to beaches and has left less than a barrel of oil on the ocean according to Chevron, has led some to suggest the prosecution may be based more on politics than the law.

“The lawsuit sounds like politics. If you have an inadequate contingency plan in place then maybe you can be suspended from operating or face an administrative fine, but how do you get to $10.6 billion in damages here?,” said John Lowe, energy law professor at SMU Dedman law School in Dallas, who has studied Brazilian energy.

“It's a government with strong Populist ties and they may feel political pressure to take some kind of action. We did not take this kind of action in the United States against BP during the Macondo spill.”

The document outlining the prosecutor's case did not give a breakdown of how it arrived at the 20 billion reais figure but said the fine was to compensate for environmental and social damage.

The November spill came from the Frade Field northeast of Rio de Janeiro, which produces nearly 80,000 barrels of oil a day and is owned 52 percent by Chevron, 30 percent by Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras and 18 percent by Frade Japao, a Japanese group.

The well involved in the spill was being drilled by Transocean aboard its SEDCO 706 rig.

Suspending Transocean's operations could stop drilling in some of the country's most promising oil fields including the 8 billion-barrel Lula and Cernambi complex, a Petrobras-led area part-owned by BG Group Plc and Galp, which is one of world's largest discoveries in three decades.

Chevron Announces First Gas from Platong II Project in Gulf of Thailand

Development to boost Chevron’s natural gas production in Thailand by more than 20 percent

Πηγή: businesswire
Oct 24 2011

SAN RAMON, Calif- Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced today that its Thailand subsidiary has commenced natural gas production from the Platong II project in the Gulf of Thailand.

The US$3.1 billion project is expected to ramp up production to 330 million cubic feet per day. The natural gas will feed growing demand for energy in Thailand, increasing the country’s domestic production by more than 10 percent, and boosting Chevron’s net natural gas production from the Gulf of Thailand by more than 20 percent. The project is also expected to produce 18,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids.

George Kirkland, vice chairman, Chevron Corporation, said, “Asia is becoming the center of global energy demand growth. Platong II is one of Chevron’s many developments in the region that will allow us to supply safe, reliable, and affordable energy to meet this need.”

Melody Meyer, president, Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company, said, “Chevron’s commitment to providing energy to the Kingdom of Thailand has been unwavering.

“From the start-up of the first natural gas field in the Gulf of Thailand 30 years ago, to Platong II, Chevron has worked in close partnership with the Kingdom to develop the energy industry, building a foundation for energy security and long-term economic development.”

Chevron’s Thailand subsidiary is operator and holds a 69.9 percent interest in Platong II, with the remaining interest held by Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (27.4 percent) and PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (2.7 percent). The development, located in shallow water 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Thailand’s southern coastline, is one of Southeast Asia’s largest offshore structures. New facilities, which will be connected to the current processing infrastructure at the Platong Field, include a central processing platform, pipelines, four initial wellhead platforms, and living quarters for 200 people.

Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com

Cautionary Statements Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of “Safe Harbor” Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about Chevron's activities in Thailand. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects," "believes," "seeks," “schedules,” "estimates," "budgets" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are changes in prices of, demand for and supply of crude oil and natural gas; actions of competitors; the inability or failure of the company’s joint-venture partners to fund their share of operations and development activities; the potential failure to achieve expected net production from existing and future crude oil and natural gas development projects; potential delays in the development, construction or start-up of planned projects; the potential disruption or interruption of production and development activities due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, or severe weather; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations and changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on scope of company operations; and general economic and political conditions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.