Exxon to pay $383 million as part of the damages for Alaska oil spill

27 August 2008

Mumbai: Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, has agreed to pay out 75 per cent of a $507.5 million damages to affected fishermen to settle the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, media reports said citing lawyers of Exxon and the plaintiffs.

Under a negotiated partial settlement, Exxon will release about $383 million for distribution to the nearly 33,000 commercial fishermen in Prince William Sound and others who sued Exxon after the worst tanker crash in US history.

Exxon Mobile also had to take a $290 million charge in the second quarter to get an earlier court order that awarded a $2.5 billion damage on Exxon renegotiated.

Lawyers for the fishermen said they will continue to battle with Exxon over another $70 million, as well as potential interest of $488 million on the Supreme Court judgment.

Exxon will in effect pay only $54 million - the largest single payout - under terms of a parallel settlement made in 1991 with seven Seattle-based fish-processing companies who were the former plaintiffs.

The settlement was negotiated by David Oesting of Anchorage, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs and Los Angeles-based lawyers for Exxon.