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Litigation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Litigation | Litigation MTBE Chevron and many other companies in the petroleum industry have used methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive. Chevron is a party to six pending lawsuits and claims, the majority of which involve numerous other petroleum marketers and refiners. Resolution of these lawsuits and claims may ultimately require the company to correct or ameliorate the alleged effects on the environment of prior release of MTBE by the company or other parties. Additional lawsuits and claims related to the use of MTBE, including personal-injury claims, may be filed in the future. The company’s ultimate exposure related to pending lawsuits and claims is not determinable. The company no longer uses MTBE in the manufacture of gasoline in the United States. Ecuador Background Chevron is a defendant in a civil lawsuit initiated in the Superior Court of Nueva Loja in Lago Agrio, Ecuador (the provincial court), in May 2003 by plaintiffs who claim to be representatives of certain residents of an area where an oil production consortium formerly had operations. The lawsuit alleges damage to the environment from the oil exploration and production operations and seeks unspecified damages to fund environmental remediation and restoration of the alleged environmental harm, plus a health monitoring program. Until 1992, Texaco Petroleum Company (Texpet), a subsidiary of Texaco Inc., was a minority member of this consortium with Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state-owned oil company, as the majority partner; since 1990, the operations have been conducted solely by Petroecuador. At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the concession area, Texpet entered into a formal agreement with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador for Texpet to remediate specific sites assigned by the government in proportion to Texpet’s ownership share of the consortium. Pursuant to that agreement, Texpet conducted a three-year remediation program at a cost of $40 million. After certifying that the sites were properly remediated, the government granted Texpet and all related corporate entities a full release from any and all environmental liability arising from the consortium operations. Based on the history described above, Chevron believes that this lawsuit lacks legal or factual merit. As to matters of law, the company believes first, that the court lacks jurisdiction over Chevron; second, that the law under which plaintiffs bring the action, enacted in 1999, cannot be applied retroactively; third, that the claims are barred by the statute of limitations in Ecuador; and, fourth, that the lawsuit is also barred by the releases from liability previously given to Texpet by the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador and by the pertinent provincial and municipal governments. With regard to the facts, the company believes that the evidence confirms that Texpet’s remediation was properly conducted and that the remaining environmental damage reflects Petroecuador’s failure to timely fulfill its legal obligations and Petroecuador’s further conduct since assuming full control over the operations. Lago Agrio Judgment On February 14, 2011, the provincial court rendered a judgment against Chevron. The court rejected Chevron’s defenses to the extent the court addressed them in its opinion. The judgment assessed approximately $8.6 billion in damages and approximately $900 million as an award for the plaintiffs’ representatives. It also assessed an additional amount of approximately $8.6 billion in punitive damages unless the company issued a public apology within 15 days of the judgment, which Chevron did not do. On February 17, 2011, the plaintiffs appealed the judgment, seeking increased damages, and on March 11, 2011, Chevron appealed the judgment seeking to have the judgment nullified. On January 3, 2012, an appellate panel in the provincial court affirmed the February 14, 2011 decision and ordered that Chevron pay additional attorneys’ fees in the amount of “0.10% of the values that are derived from the decisional act of this judgment.” The plaintiffs filed a petition to clarify and amplify the appellate decision on January 6, 2012, and the provincial court issued a ruling in response on January 13, 2012, purporting to clarify and amplify its January 3, 2012 ruling, which included clarification that the deadline for the company to issue a public apology to avoid the additional amount of approximately $8.6 billion in punitive damages was within 15 days of the clarification ruling, or February 3, 2012. Chevron did not issue an apology because doing so might be mischaracterized as an admission of liability and would be contrary to facts and evidence submitted at trial. On January 20, 2012, Chevron appealed (called a petition for cassation) the appellate panel’s decision to Ecuador’s National Court of Justice (the National Court). On February 17, 2012, the appellate panel of the provincial court admitted Chevron’s cassation appeal in a procedural step necessary for the National Court to hear the appeal. On March 29, 2012, the matter was transferred from the provincial court to the National Court, and on November 22, 2012, the National Court agreed to hear Chevron's cassation appeal. On August 3, 2012, the provincial court approved a court-appointed liquidator’s report on damages that calculated the total judgment in the case to be $19.1 billion. On November 13, 2013, the National Court ratified the judgment but nullified the $8.6 billion punitive damage assessment, resulting in a judgment of $9.5 billion. On December 23, 2013, Chevron appealed the decision to the Ecuador Constitutional Court, Ecuador's highest court. The reporting justice of the Constitutional Court heard oral arguments on the appeal on July 16, 2015. On July 10, 2018, Ecuador's Constitutional Court released a decision rejecting Chevron's appeal, which sought to nullify the National Court's judgment against Chevron. No further appeals are available in Ecuador. Lago Agrio Plaintiffs' Enforcement Actions Chevron has no assets in Ecuador and the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ lawyers have stated in press releases and through other media that they will seek to enforce the Ecuadorian judgment in various countries and otherwise disrupt Chevron’s operations. On May 30, 2012, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs filed an action against Chevron Corporation, Chevron Canada Limited, and Chevron Canada Finance Limited in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada, seeking to recognize and enforce the Ecuadorian judgment. On May 1, 2013, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that the Court has jurisdiction over Chevron and Chevron Canada Limited for purposes of the action, but stayed the action due to the absence of evidence that Chevron Corporation has assets in Ontario. The Lago Agrio plaintiffs appealed that decision and on December 17, 2013, the Court of Appeal for Ontario affirmed the lower court’s decision on jurisdiction and set aside the stay, allowing the recognition and enforcement action to be heard in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Chevron appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada and, on September 4, 2015, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has jurisdiction over Chevron and Chevron Canada Limited for purposes of the action. On January 20, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted Chevron Canada Limited’s and Chevron Corporation’s motions for summary judgment, concluding that the two companies are separate legal entities with separate rights and obligations. As a result, the Superior Court dismissed the recognition and enforcement claim against Chevron Canada Limited. Chevron Corporation still remains as a defendant in the action. On February 3, 2017, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs appealed the Superior Court's January 20, 2017 decision. On May 24, 2018, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the Superior Court’s dismissal of Chevron Canada Limited from the case. On June 22, 2018, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs filed leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario to the Supreme Court of Canada. On April 4, 2019, the Canadian Supreme Court denied the Lago Agrio plaintiffs' petition for leave to appeal. As a result, the ruling from the Court of Appeal for Ontario is now final, and all claims against Chevron Canada Limited are dismissed. On July 5, 2019, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed, by consent of the parties, the recognition and enforcement action against Chevron Corporation. The case was dismissed in its entirety with prejudice and with costs in favor of Chevron Corporation. On June 27, 2012, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs filed a complaint against Chevron Corporation in the Superior Court of Justice in Brasilia, Brazil, seeking to recognize and enforce the Ecuadorian judgment. On May 13, 2015, the public prosecutor issued its nonbinding opinion and recommended that the Superior Court of Justice reject the plaintiffs’ recognition and enforcement request, finding, among other things, that the Lago Agrio judgment was procured through fraud and corruption and cannot be recognized in Brazil because it violates Brazilian and international public order. On November 29, 2017, the Superior Court of Justice issued a decision dismissing the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ recognition and enforcement proceeding based on jurisdictional grounds. On June 15, 2018, this decision became a final judgment in Brazil. On October 15, 2012, the provincial court issued an ex parte embargo order that purports to order the seizure of assets belonging to separate Chevron subsidiaries in Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia. On November 6, 2012, at the request of the Lago Agrio plaintiffs, a court in Argentina issued a Freeze Order against Chevron Argentina S.R.L. and another Chevron subsidiary. On January 30, 2013, an appellate court upheld the Freeze Order, but on June 4, 2013, the Supreme Court of Argentina revoked the Freeze Order in its entirety. On December 12, 2013, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs served Chevron with notice of their filing of an enforcement proceeding in the National Court, First Instance, of Argentina. Chevron filed its answer on February 27, 2014 to which the Lago Agrio plaintiffs responded on December 29, 2015. On April 19, 2016, the public prosecutor in Argentina issued a non-binding opinion recommending to the National Court, First Instance, of Argentina that it reject the Lago Agrio plaintiffs' request to recognize the Ecuadorian judgment in Argentina. On February 24, 2017, the public prosecutor in Argentina issued a supplemental opinion reaffirming its previous recommendations. On November 1, 2017, the National Court, First Instance, of Argentina issued a decision dismissing the Lago Agrio plaintiffs' recognition and enforcement proceeding based on jurisdictional grounds. On November 2, 2017, the Lago Agrio plaintiffs appealed this decision to the Federal Civil Court of Appeals. On July 3, 2018, the Federal Civil Court of Appeals affirmed the National Court, First Instance’s, dismissal of the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ recognition and enforcement action based on jurisdictional grounds. On October 5, 2018, the Federal Civil Court of Appeals granted, in part, the admissibility of the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ appeal to the Supreme Court of Argentina. Chevron continues to believe the Ecuadorian judgment is illegitimate and unenforceable in Ecuador, the United States and other countries. The company also believes the judgment is the product of fraud and contrary to the legitimate scientific evidence. Chevron cannot predict the timing or ultimate outcome of any enforcement action. Chevron expects to continue a vigorous defense of any imposition of liability and to contest and defend any and all enforcement actions. Company's Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration Claims Chevron and Texpet filed an arbitration claim in September 2009 against the Republic of Ecuador before an arbitral tribunal presiding in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague under the Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. The claim alleges violations of the Republic of Ecuador’s obligations under the United States–Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and breaches of the settlement and release agreements between the Republic of Ecuador and Texpet (described above), which are investment agreements protected by the BIT. Through the arbitration, Chevron and Texpet are seeking relief against the Republic of Ecuador, including a declaration that any judgment against Chevron in the Lago Agrio litigation constitutes a violation of Ecuador’s obligations under the BIT. On January 25, 2012, the Tribunal issued its First Interim Measures Award requiring the Republic of Ecuador to take all measures at its disposal to suspend or cause to be suspended the enforcement or recognition within and outside of Ecuador of any judgment against Chevron in the Lago Agrio case pending further order of the Tribunal. On February 16, 2012, the Tribunal issued a Second Interim Award mandating that the Republic of Ecuador take all measures necessary (whether by its judicial, legislative or executive branches) to suspend or cause to be suspended the enforcement and recognition within and outside of Ecuador of the judgment against Chevron. On February 27, 2012, the Tribunal issued a Third Interim Award confirming its jurisdiction to hear Chevron's arbitration claims. On February 7, 2013, the Tribunal issued its Fourth Interim Award in which it declared that the Republic of Ecuador “has violated the First and Second Interim Awards under the [BIT], the UNCITRAL Rules and international law in regard to the finalization and enforcement subject to execution of the Lago Agrio Judgment within and outside Ecuador, including (but not limited to) Canada, Brazil and Argentina.” The Republic of Ecuador subsequently filed in the District Court of The Hague a request to set aside the Tribunal’s Interim Awards and the First Partial Award (described below), and on January 20, 2016, the District Court denied the Republic's request. On April 13, 2016, the Republic of Ecuador appealed the decision. On July 18, 2017, the Appeals Court of The Hague denied the Republic's appeal. On October 18, 2017, the Republic appealed the decision of the Appeals Court of The Hague to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. On April 12, 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the decision of the Appeals Court of The Hague and rejected Ecuador's challenges to the Tribunal's Interim Awards and the First Partial Award. The Tribunal has divided the merits phase of the proceeding into three phases. On September 17, 2013, the Tribunal issued its First Partial Award from Phase One, finding that the settlement agreements between the Republic of Ecuador and Texpet applied to Texpet and Chevron, released Texpet and Chevron from claims based on "collective" or "diffuse" rights arising from Texpet's operations in the former concession area and precluded third parties from asserting collective/diffuse rights environmental claims relating to Texpet's operations in the former concession area but did not preclude individual claims for personal harm. The Tribunal held a hearing on April 29-30, 2014, to address remaining issues relating to Phase One, and on March 12, 2015, it issued a nonbinding decision that the Lago Agrio plaintiffs' complaint, on its face, includes claims not barred by the settlement agreement between the Republic of Ecuador and Texpet. In the same decision, the Tribunal deferred to Phase Two remaining issues from Phase One, including whether the Republic of Ecuador breached the 1995 settlement agreement and the remedies that are available to Chevron and Texpet as a result of that breach. Phase Two issues were addressed at a hearing held in April and May 2015. On August 30, 2018, the Tribunal issued its Phase Two award in favor of Chevron and Texpet. The Tribunal unanimously held that the Ecuadorian judgment was procured through fraud, bribery and corruption and was based on claims that the Republic of Ecuador had settled and released in the mid-1990s, concluding that the Ecuadorian judgment “violates international public policy” and “should not be recognized or enforced by the courts of other States.” Specifically, the Tribunal found that (i) the Republic of Ecuador breached its obligations under the 1995 and 1998 settlement agreements releasing Texpet and its affiliates from public environmental claims (the same claims on which the Ecuadorian judgment was exclusively based) and (ii) the Republic of Ecuador committed a denial of justice under customary international law and under the fair and equitable treatment provision of the BIT due to the fraud and corruption in the Lago Agrio litigation. The Tribunal also found that Texpet satisfied its environmental remediation obligations with a $40 million remediation program and that Ecuador certified that Texpet had performed all of its obligations under its settlement agreement. Among other things, the Tribunal ordered the Republic of Ecuador to: (a) take immediate steps to remove the status of enforceability from the Ecuadorian judgment; (b) promptly advise in writing any State where the Lago Agrio plaintiffs may be seeking the enforcement or recognition of the Ecuadorian judgment of the Tribunal’s declarations, orders and awards; (c) take measures to “wipe out all the consequences” of Ecuador's "internationally wrongful acts in regard to the Ecuadorian judgment;" and (d) compensate Chevron for any injuries resulting from the Ecuadorian judgment. On December 10, 2018, the Republic of Ecuador filed in the District Court of The Hague a request to set aside the Tribunal's Phase Two Award. Phase Three, the third and final phase of the arbitration, at which damages for Chevron's injuries will be determined, is set for March 2021. Company's RICO Action In February 2011, Chevron filed a civil lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Lago Agrio plaintiffs and several of their lawyers, consultants and supporters, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and other state laws. Through the civil lawsuit, Chevron sought relief that included a declaration that any judgment against Chevron in the Lago Agrio litigation is the result of fraud and other unlawful conduct and is therefore unenforceable. The trial commenced on October 15, 2013 and concluded on November 22, 2013. On March 4, 2014, the Federal District Court entered a judgment in favor of Chevron, prohibiting the defendants from seeking to enforce the Lago Agrio judgment in the United States and further prohibiting them from profiting from their illegal acts. The defendants appealed the Federal District Court's decision, and, on April 20, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments. On August 8, 2016, the Second Circuit issued a unanimous opinion affirming in full the judgment of the Federal District Court. On October 27, 2016, the Second Circuit denied the defendants' petitions for en banc rehearing of the opinion on their appeal. On March 27, 2017, two of the defendants filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. On June 19, 2017, the United States Supreme Court denied the defendants' petition for a Writ of Certiorari. Management's Assessment The ultimate outcome of the foregoing matters, including any financial effect on Chevron, remains uncertain. Management does not believe an estimate of a reasonably possible loss (or a range of loss) can be made in this case. Due to the defects associated with the Ecuadorian judgment, management does not believe the judgment has any utility in calculating a reasonably possible loss (or a range of loss). Moreover, the highly uncertain legal environment surrounding the case provides no basis for management to estimate a reasonably possible loss (or a range of loss).

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