Lago Agrio oil field

Lago Agrio oil field
Lago Agrio oil field is located in Ecuador
Lago Agrio oil field
Location of the Lago Agrio oil field within Ecuador
CountryEcuador
RegionSucumbíos
LocationNueva Loja
Offshore/onshoreonshore
Coordinates0°4′28.6″N 76°45′28.5″W / 0.074611°N 76.757917°W / 0.074611; -76.757917
OperatorsTexPet (1967–1990)
Petroecuador (1990–...)
Field history
Discovery1967
Start of production1972
Production
Producing formationsNapo
Hollin

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area near the city of Nueva Loja in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador. It is located in the Western Oriente Basin. The site's hydrocarbon-bearing formations are the Cretaceous Napo and Hollin formations.[1][2] Oil was discovered in the area in 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and cultural upheaval. Located in Cofan territory near the Colombian border, it is one of twelve production areas that developed when Ecuador began to export petroleum.

In 1993, local residents started a class action lawsuit, Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. to force former well operator Texaco (acquired by Chevron Corporation in 2001) to clean up the area and provide for the care of the 30,000 inhabitants affected by oil contamination. In February 2011, an Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay $8 billion in compensation. The verdict was later confirmed by the Ecuador Supreme Court in 2013, with the amount fixed to $9.5 billion. Despite having previously insisted to move the process from the New York Court to Ecuadorian tribunals and having accepted jurisdiction there, Chevron Corporation has refused to pay the judgement claiming that the decision was “illegitimate and inapplicable”.[3][4][5] A ruling deeming the Ecuadorian verdict as unenforceable was issued by a United States court in 2014 and by an appeals court two years later.[6][7][8] In 2018 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of Chevron and said the 2013 Ecuador Supreme Court case was obtained "through fraud, bribery and corruption."[9][10][11]

  1. ^ White, Howard J.; Scopec, Robert A.; Ramirez, Felix A.; Rodas, Jose A.; Bonilla, Guido (1995). "Reservoir Characterization of the Hollin and Napo Formations, Western Oriente Basin, Ecuador". M62: Petroleum Basins of South America (PDF). American Association of Petroleum Geologists. pp. 573–596. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  2. ^ "Ecuador geology". The Oil & Gas Week. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  3. ^ "Chevron ordered to pay $8 billion by Ecuador court". Los Angeles Times. February 14, 2011.
  4. ^ "Ecuador Judge Orders Chevron to Pay $9 Billion". The New York Times. 14 February 2011.
  5. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (2012). "Reversal of Fortune" (online). The New Yorker. No. January 9. Retrieved 9 January 2016. For eight years, Texaco fought to have the lawsuit dismissed, on the ground that it should be tried not in the U.S. but in Ecuador. Donziger and his colleagues feared such a turn: Ecuador's judicial system was notoriously corrupt, and its government relied on oil revenues for a third of its annual budget.
  6. ^ Smith, Jennifer; Gilbert, Daniel (2014). "U.S. Judge Hands Win to Chevron, Slams Lawyer" (online). Wall Street Journal (March 4). Retrieved 9 January 2013. Subitle: Ruling Gives Oil Giant Boost in Fight Against $9.5 Billion Ecuadorean Judgment.(subscription required)
  7. ^ Smythe, Christie; Hurtado, Patricia (2014). "Chevron Wins U.S. Ruling Calling Ecuador Judgment Fraud" (online). Bloomberg BusinessWeek (March 4). Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  8. ^ NICOLE HONG (8 August 2016). "Chevron Wins Ruling Blocking Enforcement of $9.5 Billion Ecuador Judgment". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2016. Monday's decision affirms a lower-court ruling by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who found in 2014 that the $9.5 billion environmental-damage judgment won by New York lawyer Steven Donziger and his Ecuadorean plaintiffs against Chevron was obtained through fraud and corruption. Judge Kaplan ruled Mr. Donziger couldn't enforce the judgment in the U.S. or profit from the award anywhere in the world.
  9. ^ Karan Nagarkatti; Gary McWilliams (7 September 2018). "International tribunal rules in favor of Chevron in Ecuador case". Reuters. Retrieved 6 April 2019. The tribunal unanimously held that a $9.5 billion pollution judgment by Ecuador's Supreme Court against Chevron "was procured through fraud, bribery and corruption and was based on claims that had been already settled and released by the Republic of Ecuador years earlier."
  10. ^ Randazzo, Sara (2018-09-07). "Tribunal Condemns Ecuador's $9.5 Billion Ruling Against Chevron - Arbitration court in The Hague echoes earlier decisions, bolstering company's campaign to invalidate the 2011 environmental judgment". The Wall Street Journal. The tribunal found Ecuador released Texaco in 1998 of its cleanup duties after the company spent $40 million on environmental remediation.
  11. ^ Krauss, Michael (2018-09-16). "Justice Delayed But Not Denied: Corrupt Ecuadorean Process Fails In International Arbitration". Forbes.