ExxonMobil said in a statement Monday that the dispute over punitive
damages arising from the 260,000 barrel Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 "has never
been about compensating people for actual damages."

Rather it is about whether "further punishment is warranted in a case
where the company voluntarily compensated most plaintiffs within a year of the
spill, and has spent over $3.5 billion, including compensatory payments,
cleanup payments, settlements and fines," the company said. "We do not believe
any punitive damages are warranted in this case."

A federal court in 1995 awarded a record punitive damage award of $5
billion to over 36,000 claimants alleging injury stemming from the spill from
the tanker Exxon Valdez into Prince William Sound. The award was subsequently
cut in half by an appeals court.

The lower court also ordered the company to pay $500 million in actual
damages. The company is arguing that the punitive damages award was out of
proportion to the amount awarded in actual damages, and that the court ignored
Supreme Court decisions restricting the size of punitive damage awards.

"It is important that the Supreme Court hear this case to provide
guidance to the lower courts on the application of punitive damages," the
company statement said. "It is also important for the Supreme Court to uphold
long-standing maritime law that provides that ship-owners are not liable for
punitive damages based upon conduct by the ship-master who disregarded the
owner's rules and policies."

The company has already paid more than $3.4 billion in fines, for cleanup
and restoration costs, and compensation for damages related to the spill.

--Gerald Karey, gerry_karey@platts.com