On July 2, 2015, BP reached an agreement in principle with five Gulf States to settle claims against the company arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
Search results for: "Deepwater Horizon"
BP Reaches Agreement With Gulf States To Pay Historic $18.5 Billion Settlement Over Deepwater Horizon
By Haley Gregory | Butler Snow LLPSign up and get Breaking Energy news in your inbox.
We will never sell or share your information without your consent. See our privacy policy.New Offshore Oil Regulations Respond To Key Failures Of Deepwater Horizon Spill
By Enerknol Research
Insight for Industry – New Offshore Regulations Respond to Key Failure On April 13, 2015, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) proposed new offshore oil and gas regulations that will cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars. However, offshore oil and gas producers will have several years… Keep reading →
Deepwater Horizon Ruling Puts Focus on Prevention
By Gregory Linsin | Blank Rome LLP
A US judge’s decision to slap BP with a finding of gross negligence in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill case could have a ripple effect on shipowners, maritime lawyers say.
Last week’s decision by District Judge Carl Barbier exposes the UK-headquartered energy giant to up to $18bn in fines for the 2010 drillship incident because, under the same US laws that cover tanker spills, civil penalties are quadrupled in cases of gross negligence compared with “ordinary negligence”.
BP is widely expected to appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose decisions are binding across most of the oil production belt of the US Gulf Coast.
Trial Judge Concludes The Deepwater Horizon Spill Caused By BP’s Gross Negligence And Willful Misconduct
By Jeanne Grasso, John Kimball, Gregory Linsin, Jonathan Waldron, Alan Weigel | Blank Rome LLP
Maritime
New Development
On September 4, 2014 the federal district judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill issued long-awaited rulings as to liability. The court concluded that BP is subject to enhanced civil penalties under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) because the discharge of oil was the result of the company’s “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct.”
Action Items: In light of this ruling, offshore leaseholders, operators, and contractors will likely be held to an increased standard of care because the severity of the potential harm from a well blowout, explosion, and oil spill is great. Accordingly, leaseholders, operators, and contractors in the offshore industries should review their safety and environmental compliance policies and procedures to ensure they meet or exceed the high standard of care that may be applied to complex, high-risk drilling operations.
Background
Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, multidistrict litigation was consolidated in the district court in New Orleans, Louisiana. The current trial, which involves two key cases filed against BP and the other entities involved in the drilling of the Macondo well, is being heard by the court without a jury pursuant to the court’s admiralty jurisdiction.
The consolidated trial’s first phase in early 2013 was to determine the liability of BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and other companies, and to assess, for the purposes of penalty calculation, whether the companies acted with gross negligence and willful misconduct with respect to the loss of well control and the resulting explosion, fire, and sinking of the rig.
The trial’s second phase, which occurred during the fall of 2013, addressed the post-incident efforts to control the spill and the quantity of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The judge has not yet issued a ruling with respect to the issues presented in the second phase. The third phase, which is scheduled to begin in January 2015, will focus on all other liability issues arising from the oil spill cleanup, including containment issues and the use of dispersants.
The tragic Deepwater Horizon accident and devastating uncontrolled crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico deeply affected the oil and gas industry. The disaster prompted oil and gas industry trade group – API – to comprehensively re-evaluate and strengthen its offshore safety standards.
Specifically, API has “established a multi-layer system, with many built-in redundancies to help prevent incidents, to intervene and stop a release that might occur, and to manage and clean up spills,” Group Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito told reporters during a recent question and answer session ahead of the two-year anniversary of the accident on April 20. Keep reading →
Joint Venture Methane Risk Is Also A Climate Opportunity
By Environmental Defense Fund Energy Exchange Blog
With mounting concern about the state of the climate and increasing speculation about natural gas’ role in decarbonizing energy markets, oil and gas companies face growing scrutiny from the public and investors. Some companies are stepping up with pledges to reduce emissions of methane from their worldwide operations. But there’s a catch. As our new… Keep reading →
Four states which sit on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico stand to miss out on billions of dollars in promised oil royalties if a proposal by the Trump administration makes it through Congress. On Tuesday the White house proposed ending a program that shares the revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling with the states which bear the risk of spills.
This is the second part of a three part series discussing the recent past and future of oil prices and the reasons why prices are where they are. Many intelligent people who make their living analyzing oil markets have pointed to OPEC and its ability to enact large scale production cuts as central controlling oil prices. While this has yet to occur as the production cuts enter their fifth month true believers continue to chant the mantra “just give it time”.
Dr. Cherry Murray Confirmed As Director Of The Office Of Science
By U.S. Department of Energy
WASHINGTON – Dr. Cherry Murray was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday, December 10, 2015 as the Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. “Dr. Murray will be an outstanding Director of the Office of Science, drawing upon her experience in academia as professor and dean of one of country’s leading universities of… Keep reading →
BP’s long, flammable nightmare is finally over. It has agreed to a record settlement to cash out all of the federal and state claims against it arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From the Wall Street Journal: BP PLC on Thursday agreed to pay $18.7 billion to settle all federal and state claims arising… Keep reading →
