San Ramon-based Chevron is making money hand over fist but its board attributes cuts in compensation for CEO John Watson and four other top executives to “some operating incidents” during the year—including the Richmond refinery fire. Watson, who’s paid about $25 million, will see his bonus package reduced about 10 percent. As for the incidents, the Wall Street Journal says:
Oil leaks from the seafloor at its Frade field off the Brazilian coast in 2011 and 2012 led the company to halt production at the site, forfeiting daily production of 29,000 barrels of oil and its equivalent in natural gas…
In January of last year, a drilling rig in Nigeria operated by a Chevron subsidiary exploded, resulting in two deaths. And last August, a huge fire broke out at its Richmond, Calif., refinery after a corroded pipe ruptured.
