Alberta’s oilsands are at the centre of a second major fraud lawsuit filed in the United States against ExxonMobil.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by the state of Massachusetts, accuses the oil multinational of misleading investors about what climate change measures could cost its operations — especially those in the oilsands.
It says Exxon told investors it evaluated its projects with a high and increasing price on carbon when in fact it used a much lower figure that remained stable.
The lawsuit alleges that had the effect of increasing the value of the company’s oil reserves.
The suit is similar to one currently before a court in New York state.
That lawsuit lists 14 Alberta oilsands projects Exxon is involved in through its Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil.
An Exxon lawyer in the New York case has said the lawsuit fails to account for all the ways the company evaluates climate risk.