Exxon increased its estimate of the 1989 costs of cleaning up the most expensive environmental disaster in history to $500M. and it could take another $2B Exxon noted that these costs were the major reason for their lower net income for the year, but analysts said that Exxon's size would insulate it from serious long-term financial damage. Exxon's stock has lagged behind that of major oil firms and Exxon could suffer from continuing negative publicity from the Valdez spill and the subsequent heating oil spill into a waterway between New York and New Jersey.
Exxon increased its estimate of the 1989 costs of cleaning up the most expensive environmental disaster in history to $2B and it could take another $500M. Exxon noted that these costs were the major reason for their lower net income for the year, but analysts said that Exxon's size would insulate it from serious long-term financial damage. Exxon's stock has lagged behind that of major oil firms and Exxon could suffer from continuing negative publicity from the Valdez spill and the subsequent heating oil spill into a waterway between New York and New Jersey.