Info!
UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
BP found grossly negligent over Macondo oil spill
Oil major BP has been found to have been grossly negligent over the explosion and oil spill that leaked around 5mn barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and killed 11 people in 2010. Subcontractors Transocean and Halliburton were found to have been ‘negligent’.
The ruling, from a judge in a US District Court in Louisiana, means that BP may face up to $18bn in additional fines. The court found that BP’s activities at the well amounted to ‘wilful misconduct’, and that the company was 67% responsible for the disaster. Transocean was found 30% responsible, and Halliburton (responsible for the cement job on the well) 3%.
The ruling means that BP may have to pay a penalty of $4,300 per barrel of oil spilt under the US Clean Water Act, compared to $1,100 per barrel that would have been the case under a ‘negligence’ verdict. The penalty is to settle BP’s civil liability from the disaster – the company had already agreed to pay the US government $4.5bn in 2012 to settle its criminal liability.
In a statement BP said that it believes that the finding was not supported by the evidence at trial, and that ‘proving gross negligence is a very high bar that was not met in this case.’
The District Court is to hold additional proceedings, scheduled for January 2015, to consider the application of statutory penalty factors in assessing a per-barrel Clean Water Act penalty. BP has said it will seek to show that its conduct merits a penalty that is less than the applicable maximum after application of the statutory factors.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: Deepwater Horizon
Countries: USA -
Subjects: Offshore safety, Law and Legal practice, Oil, Regulation
