Mr. J.J. Mulva
Chief Executive Officer
ConocoPhillips
600 North Dairy Ashford
Houston, TX 77252-2197
Dear J.J. Mulva:
Amazon Watch is pleased about ConocoPhillips’ commitment to health, safety and the environment (HSE). We are encouraged that through the implementation of your HSE policy, ConocoPhillips “seeks to earn the public’s trust and to be recognized as the leader in HSE performance”. We write this letter because we are concerned that ConocoPhillips’ recent acquisition of Burlington Resources’ projects in Southern Ecuador and Northern Peru will prevent your company from fulfilling your own HSE policy and seriously hurt your efforts towards becoming the industry leader in HSE performance. As Chairman and CEO, we recognize that your leadership and vision guides the company and we appreciate your attention to this pressing issue.
When ConocoPhillips acquired Burlington Resources, your company also inherited serious environmental, political, and financial liabilities due to Burlington’s involvement in controversial projects located on unspoiled rainforest land inhabited by indigenous peoples in the heart of the Amazon. In Ecuador, ConocoPhillips now holds a 100 percent share in Block 24 and a 50 percent share in block 23 (with Argentine partner CGC). These two oil exploration concessions span roughly one million acres of pristine rainforest and overlap the territories of three indigenous nations. Your company also holds shares in block 104 in the Northern Peruvian Amazon as well as partial interest in blocks 39 and 57, the latter part of the controversial Camisea project. Together, these concessions are larger than the state of Connecticut, making ConocoPhillips’ Amazon rainforest holdings greater than any other U.S. oil company.
Indigenous peoples’ opposition to ConocoPhillips’ projects in this region is overwhelming. Seven indigenous nationalities including the Shuar, Achuar and Kichwa have formed an alliance and a unified vow to defend themselves against the threats of oil, mining and logging on their territories. To date, the united indigenous communities have prevented Burlington Resources from moving forward with their plans. As the Achuar recently declared: “It is us, the Achuar and the Shuar who are the owners of this rainforest and we are united to fight until our last breath.”
As if the duty to respect the will of local indigenous communities and fulfill ConocoPhillips’ commitment to HSE weren’t enough reasons to discontinue these projects, it is worthwhile to note that these contentious projects have not produced financial benefit for your company. As Ricardo Nicolas, General Manager of ConocoPhillips’ partner company CGC, told the New York Times in a front page story in 2003: “It’s been seven years and we haven’t been able to get started; seven years and $10 million dollars.” Three years later, these projects are still generating loss. According to Mario Melo, an attorney for the tribes from the Center for Economic and Social Rights (based in Ecuador), “It’s been a total loss for everyone. The government has lost in its public policy pursuit of expanding the oil frontier, which has been impossible to carry out. The companies have lost a great deal of money and prestige—both at the national and international level—and of course, the indigenous peoples who inhabit this area have seen a huge erosion of their rights.” Indeed, continuing to pursue these detrimental projects is slated not only to harm indigenous peoples, the vulnerable rainforest ecosystem, and ConocoPhillips’ HSE performance reputation, but the company’s bottom line as well.
Conoco made a smart business decision in the 1990’s when faced with a similarly contested project planned in Ecuador’s block 16. When faced with opposition of the indigenous Huaorani people and international concern over the environmental implications of oil extraction slated for the rare and fragile rainforests surrounding Ecuador’s Yasuni national park, Conoco was applauded for its decision to pull out of the project. We hope that ConocoPhillips will continue to follow this laudable precedent.
Abandoning the controversial projects in Southern Ecuador and Northern Peru is not only smart in terms of living your company’s values and protecting your company’s reputation; it’s also good business sense. At the time of the acquisition of Burlington Resources, we sent you a letter of concern and a dossier of information. While we didn’t receive a response, we look forward to having future dialogue with the company regarding these issues.
This is a decisive moment for ConocoPhillips. It is our hope that your company will demonstrate its leadership and dedication to health, safety and environmental performance, as well as smart business, by re-examining its recently-acquired oil concessions in Ecuador and Peru.
Sincerely,
Atossa Soltani
Executive Director
Kevin Koenig
Northern Amazon Program Coordinator
