ABSTRACT
In November 1999, ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond faced the potential collapse of the Chad/Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project on which the company was about to embark. Both Royal Dutch/Shell and France’s TotalFinaElf, ExxonMobil’s partners in the Pipeline Consortium, had just withdrawn, citing environmental concerns among other things and leaving its future temporarily in doubt. This withdrawal delighted many environmental groups long opposed to the pipeline. A spokesperson for the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), a grass-roots environmental organization and longtime pipeline opponent, said in a press release:
Based on its experience in Nigeria, Royal Dutch/Shell recognizes a bad situation when it sees one, and Elf Aquitaine will avoid becoming part of the tragedy. The human and environmental costs of proceeding with an oil pipeline that cuts through the heart of Africa’s rainforest are simply too great. 1
