BP May Seek to Avoid Responsibility, Transocean Says

[G_j]

Source: Bloomberg

BP May Seek to Avoid Responsibility, Transocean Says
August 05, 2010, 10:35 AM EDT

By Mark Chediak

(Updates with comments from BP in fourth and fifth paragraphs.)

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Transocean Ltd., the owner of the Gulf of Mexico drilling rig destroyed in a blast that triggered the worst accidental oil spill, said operator BP Plc may seek to avoid its full contractual responsibility for the disaster.

Transocean, which leased the Deepwater Horizon to BP, said in a regulatory filing that the company’s contract protects it from penalties and liabilities other than for contamination resulting from operations controlled by the rig owner on or above the surface of the water.

In response to a request from Transocean to be indemnified against other claims, BP “has asserted that the facts are not sufficiently developed to determine who is responsible,” according to the filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. “We believe this reservation of rights is without justification.”

BP said in an e-mailed statement today that it disagrees with Transocean’s characterization of responsibilities and obligations under the drilling contract. The indemnity issues under the contract are intertwined with the ongoing investigations into the cause of the disaster, BP said.

“BP believes the combination of uncovered facts and the applicable law may show that Transocean is not entitled to indemnification under the contract,” according to the statement.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-05/bp-may-seek-to-avoid-responsibility-transocean-says.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. After all, taking FULL responsibility wouldn't be FAIR to the SHAREHOLDERS!!!

[Webster Green]

2. Really?

[louis-t]

3. I'm shocked.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Oh

Gulf oil rig's owner had safety issue at 3 other wells.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38570559/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times

Quite apart from which :

Did the Firefighting Effort Make the BP Oil Spill Worse?

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/36342_Did_the_Firefighting_Effort_Make_the_BP_Oil_Spill_Worse

[Lightning Count]

5. Sounds more like Transocean is trying to avoid their portion of the responsibility.

Don't worry. We will get around to you.

[Lorien]

6. Of Course! Laws don't apply to corporate citizens

they're only for us "small people". :grr:

[AsahinaKimi]

7. Why is this not so hard to believe?

A corporation not taking responsibility for their mess? I am sure thats never happened before :sarcasm:

[Edweird]

8. No kidding.

[Nihil]

9. BP *may* seek to avoid responsibility; Transocean *are* seeking to avoid responsibility

I wonder why?

Gulf oil rig's owner had safety issue at 3 other wells
Internal reports also identify deficiencies involving Deepwater Horizon's equipment

The company that owned the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April
had widespread safety concerns about several of its other rigs in the gulf, and
a month before the disaster it commissioned a broad review of the safety culture
of the company’s North American operations, according to confidential internal
reports.

The confidential internal reports, obtained by The New York Times, offer an
unusually candid view of safety and maintenance concerns within the world’s
largest offshore drilling company, and they indicate that the problems
highlighted in earlier reports provided to The Times about the Deepwater Horizon
were not limited to that rig, which exploded on April 20, leading to an oil spill
that is estimated to have poured at least four million barrels of oil into the gulf.

Transocean has 14 rigs now operating in the Gulf of Mexico, and 139 worldwide,
and these documents raise concerns about locations beyond Deepwater Horizon,
especially the three additional gulf rigs that were recently investigated.

The new documents also shed light on one of the lingering mysteries of the
disaster: why the rig sank. They indicate that there were problems with the
Deepwater Horizon’s ballast system that was responsible for keeping the rig
afloat and stable. If the rig had not sunk, the leak might not have occurred.
Federal investigators have questioned whether deferred maintenance and other
factors had played a role in the sinking of the rig.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4492742


Ok .. so I guess I don't wonder why Transocean are desperately trying to dodge
their responsibilities after all ...

[laylah]

10. Why am I not

surprised at either of them? :shrug: