Exxon and Murphy win $17 million in NAFTA ruling

Newfoundland's R&D provisions for exploitation rights in the Hibernia and Terra Nova offshore oil fields have been struck down by a NAFTA international trade tribunal. The tribunal awarded $17.3 million to Exxon Mobil Corp, Irving TX,and Murphy Oil Corp, El Dorado, AR after it ruled that the province's requirement of returning a fixed amount of offshore revenues to R&D and training was discriminatory. The long awaited ruling comes years after a 2007 ruling of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and in favour of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (<a class="micro" href="http://researchmoneyinc.c