Chevron Ecuador: U.S. Supreme Court Rebuff Not A Loss For Chevron

Chevron Corporation attempted to have the U.S. Supreme Court take on the case of Ecuador plaintiff’s fraudulent lawsuit against the American Oil Company – one that has resulted in a corrupt Ecuador court handing down a judgement of now $19 billion against the San Ramon-based firm for alleged environmental damage that was in point of fact, the fault of Ecuador’s state-run Petroecuador Oil Company.

The U.S Supreme Court rejected Chevron’s request, but the action should not be seen as a loss for Chevron.

Frankly, it would have been a surprise for the Supreme Court to have taken on the Chevron case. I don’t know of a Supreme Court case that caused the judges to render a critique on the court system of another country. That’s essentially what has been done on the lower court level – but that’s no reason to believe the Supreme Court will take up the matter.

But for those who call themselves journalists to then claim that Chevron “lost” is totally irresponsible. There’s no way to read this as such because no comment on Chevron’s “beef” was issued.

Indeed, I think it’s the other way around. The U.S. Supreme Court seems to be trying to tell Chevron to take this up with an international court, as this is an international issue.

If Ecuador’s President Correa were smart, he’d drop the lawsuit and welcome Chevron back into Ecuador if only to help it give some intelligent direction to the country’s energy production system. Ecuador’s not an alternative energy player and there are signs its oil production revenues are falling. This is because Ecuador’s long-term oil production trend has been downward.

Stay tuned.