The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has stayed an action initiated by a group of Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking to have a judgment of an Ecuadorian court against Chevron Corporation.

An attempt by Ecuadorian villagers to have a Canadian court enforce a $19 billion judgment against multinational oil giant Chevron Corp. has been dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court. Justice David Brown ruled on May 01, 2013, that the Canadian courts have no jurisdiction to enforce the controversial award handed down by an Ecuadorian court against Chevron. The award to the villagers was made in Ecuador for black sludge contamination of a rainforest between 1972 and 1990 by Texaco, which Chevron Corp. bought in 2001. Brown concluded the judgment was levied against Chevron Corp., and not Chevron Canada, therefore the subsidiary's assets do not belong to the U.S. parent company.

Chevron Corporation reported unaudited consolidated earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the quarter, net income attributable to company was $6,178 million or $3.18 per share -- diluted for the first quarter 2013, compared with $6,471 million or $3.27 per share -- diluted in the 2012 first quarter. Total revenues and other income were $56,818 million against $60,705 million for the same period last year. Income before income tax expense was $10,283 million against $12,069 million of prior year period. Capital and exploratory expenditures in the first three months of 2013 were $8.9 billion, compared with $6.4 billion in the corresponding 2012 period. The amounts included approximately $453 million in 2013 and $361 million in 2012 for the company's share of expenditures by affiliates, which did not require cash outlays by the company. Also included were amounts related to the acquisition of interests in the Kitimat LNG project in western Canada. Expenditures for upstream represented 93% of the companywide total in the first three months 2013.