U.S. jury retires in case over Chevron Nigeria clash

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Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:46pm EST
By Braden Reddall

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A jury began deliberating on Tuesday on
whether Chevron Corp is liable for a death and injuries among Nigerians
in a clash that ended their three-day occupation of an offshore oil
platform a decade ago.

The trial, closely watched because it raises so many tough issues that
face resource-rich countries and multinational companies, was brought by
one of the occupiers, Larry Bowoto, who was injured by gunfire in the
clash with Nigerian forces.

Plaintiffs argued Chevron was liable for damages because it paid, fed
and housed the troops flown in by helicopter to end the May 1998
occupation and that the U.S. oil company was negligent in calling them
while negotiations were ongoing.

"They don't want to be held accountable now but you, through our system
of justice, get to hold them accountable," lawyer Dan Stormer told the
jury in his closing argument.

Chevron lawyer Bob Mittelstaedt insisted a company had a duty to protect
its workers, but denied Chevron was liable for the actions of forces in
a military operation.

"Hostage takers don't have any right to determine how long they hold
hostages before the police are called," Mittelstaedt said in his closing
remarks, adding that negotiations stalled because of a "ransom" demanded
by the occupiers.

"The decision was based on their concern about the safety of the
workers," he told the federal court in San Francisco.

Addressing the payments question, Mittelstaedt said because government
forces were the only security option in an unstable part of Nigeria, it
was normal for oil companies to pay them extra to guard property and
also provide them food and housing given the remote locations.

He argued California-based Chevron officials who had said in 1998 that
the company did not pay them were unaware of the practice. Stormer
countered by pointing to court testimony of the payments by Chevron
Nigeria Ltd being approved by Chevron Corp.

Prior to the platform's occupation by about 100 Nigerian villagers,
Chevron said it received threatening letters from a group demanding jobs
for their people and compensation for pollution of their water by the
oil industry.

Workers on the platform, which is nine miles off the West African coast,
testified that the protesters were drinking alcohol and threatening
them. Mittelstaedt presented a photograph to the jury to prove they had
access to knives.

Hostage-taking and ransom demands are a regular hazard for oil companies
working in the Niger Delta, where impoverished villagers complain they
see no benefit from the industry.

Only on Tuesday, Nigerian security forces said gunmen seeking to protect
a trade in stolen crude had attacked military positions in the delta for
the third time in a week.

Parabe accounted for a fifth of Chevron's Nigerian daily crude oil
output of 400,000 barrels.

The Bowoto case was brought against San Ramon, California-based Chevron
under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which dates back to 1789 and allows
foreigners to sue over human rights abuses committed in their countries.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc faces a similar trial in New York early next year
on charges of human rights violations and racketeering in Nigeria.

A landmark decision a decade ago found another California oil company,
Unocal Corp, could be sued in a U.S. court for its alleged role in human
rights abuses in Myanmar. Unocal settled in 2005, just weeks before
agreeing to be bought by Chevron.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Gary Hill)