On May 30, 23 Senators signed a letter to the Attorney General, calling on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division to “use every tool” to investigate the oil industry for potential violations of the Sherman...more
Welcome to the third edition of Shearman & Sterling’s Fifth Circuit Securities Litigation Quarterly. As public companies and financial institutions continue to migrate to Texas, our Texas-based securities litigation team...more
As you negotiate your master service agreements are you confident that you know how insurance choices might affect indemnity obligations? Me neither. That’s why I turn to my Gray Reed partner Darin Brooks and his insurance...more
Wagner v. Exxon Mobil Corporation is an example of the misfortune that can befall the purchaser who assumes the burden of comprehensive, one-sided indemnity obligations. We will disregard evidentiary and other issues in this...more
The principal contention in the tax refund case of Exxon v. United States was whether certain mineral related transactions between Exxon and the countries of Qatar and Malaysia were sales or leases. Originally Exxon treated...more
A growing trend has emerged in the ongoing effort to hold greenhouse gas emitters accountable for their contributions to global climate change. The first wave of climate change lawsuits in the U.S. against carbon majors —...more
When Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison announced in June 2020 that his office had filed a climate change lawsuit, the litigation strategy he described was relatively novel for a climate change case. Rather than...more
Earlier this week, Vermont became the latest state to file a lawsuit against the major oil companies featuring allegations focusing on climate change. This is simply the most recent of more than two dozen lawsuits that have...more
In what appears to be a serious black eye for the organization, the World Bank has canceled its prominent “Doing Business” report (which rates the “business environment of the world’s countries”) after an “investigation...more
On Wednesday, May 26, 2021, a series of events transpired that could have long-lasting impacts on the energy industry and which seem likely to accelerate that industry’s evolving responses to environmental, social and...more
A trio of recent developments illustrate growing support for Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives in the U.S., as well as abroad. ESG regulatory and legal risks now appear top of mind for institutional...more
In the recent case of Apache UK Investments Limited v Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited [2021] EWHC 1283 (Comm), the English High Court has delivered an important ruling which addresses the extent to which a prior...more
A Bad Day for Big Oil - "ExxonMobil, Chevron lose key shareholder votes and Dutch court orders Shell to cut emissions faster." Why this is important: Issues related to climate change embroiled three oil companies this...more
Huge win yesterday for climate change activists who dealt ExxonMobil leadership a “stunning defeat” when shareholders “elected at least two board candidates nominated by activist investors who pledged to steer the company...more
May 26, 2021 was the day the energy world changed. On the same day that a Dutch court in The Hague ruled that Royal Dutch Shell could be held liable for climate change and ordered it to reduce its greenhouse gas...more
In Exxon Mobil Corp. v. United States of America, from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ExxonMobil learned the hard way that filing amended tax returns can be very costly....more
Moved by Covid’s bite out of the energy industry, oil behemoths ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp. have held talks about joining forces, “testing the water for what could be one of the largest corporate mergers ever.” ...more
U.S. Shale Producers Race for Federal Permits Ahead of Presidential Election - "Federal permitting in the largest U.S. oilfield in the Permian Basin, located in Texas and New Mexico, is up 80 percent in about the last three...more
Microsoft made a huge gaming move on Monday with its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the “parent company of gaming studios like Bethesda,” and maker of titles like “The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Quake and...more
Exxon Mobil: Doubling Down While Facing Peak Oil Demand - "With most competitors pivoting away from upstream growth, Exxon continues to press ahead with investments despite very challenging current price environment for...more
In combined cases featuring California cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo and several California counties and public officials against Exxon Mobil Corporation, Texas’ Fort Worth Court of Appeal denied Exxon...more
Bayer, the German parent company of Monsanto, will pay more than $10 billion to resolve “tens of thousands of claims in the United States that its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.” The settlement covers an estimated...more
FERC: No Rehearing on Potomac Pipeline - "A federal commission this week turned down a request to rehear its approval for a proposed natural-gas pipeline under the Potomac River." Why this is important: In 2018, the Federal...more
On March 30, 2020, Shell announced that it is pulling out of the Lake Charles liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) project. Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that Shell’s 50% share of the quantities from the 16.45 MTPA project...more
On New Year’s Eve, a federal court relieved ExxonMobil of a $2 million fine levied against the company by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). OFAC imposed the penalty against Exxon for...more