NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 29, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Exxon Mobil Corp. (AAA/Stable/A-1+) would remain unchanged following a federal judge's decision in Alaska yesterday to increase a punitive damages award to plaintiffs against ExxonMobil to $4.5 billion (from $4.0 billion) plus interest of about $2.25 billion. The judgment relates to the Exxon Valdez case, which has been winding through the U.S. judicial system for more than a decade. Exxon Mobil is expected to appeal the case to higher courts, which have ruled that the punitive damages are exorbitant. Although yesterday's decision is an obvious setback to Exxon Mobil's efforts to reduce the size of the punitive damages, Standard&
