ExxonMobil's fines for Valdez Oil spill reduced by $1 billion

Exxon Mobil Corp. (Irving, TX; www.exxonmobil.com) must pay $4 billion instead of $5 billion in punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the Alaskan coast, according to a decision made by the federal court in Anchorage last December. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the $5 billion punitive damages award "excessive" in November 2001 and sent the case back to the Anchorage …