Exxon To Collect Millions From Insurers

Exxon Corp. said it will collect about $300 million in partial settlement of a $3 billion lawsuit it launched two years ago against a group of insurance companies because they rejected some company claims for the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The Irving, Texas-based oil giant in 1993 sued a worldwide group of 250 underwriters headed by venerable Lloyds of London because it wouldn’t pay off on claims Exxon filed under a catastrophic corporate insurance policy. The suit, in state court in Houston, seeks actual and punitive damages, plus interest.

Exxon argues that the policy, similar to “umbrella” insurance that many home and auto owners buy, covers a big chunk of the $2.5 billion it says it laid out for spill-related cleanup and liability expenses. The insurers maintain the policy doesn’t cover such costs.