BP sues rig owner for $40 bil; blames it for Gulf disaster

[AsahinaKimi]

Source: JAPANTODAY

NEW ORLEANS —
Thursday 21st April, 10:09 AM JST
BP on Wednesday sued the maker of the device that failed to stop last year’s calamitous Gulf oil spill and the owner of the rig that exploded, alleging that negligence by both helped cause the disaster.

The British company said in papers filed in federal court in New Orleans that it is suing rig owner Transocean for at least $40 billion in damages, accusing it of causing last year’s deadly blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP says every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon rig failed.

It also is suing Cameron International, which provided a blowout preventer with a faulty design, which caused an unreasonable amount of risk that harm would occur. Both companies have filed counter claims against BP.

The filings are essentially legal maneuvers to preserve the companies’ claims. A federal trial is scheduled for next year that will determine which companies are at fault and how much their liability should be.

The lawsuits, filed on the first anniversary of the explosion that led to the spill, seeks damages to help BP pay for the tens of billions of dollars in liabilities it has incurred from the disaster. Though BP has estimated its liabilities at $40.9 billion, it still could face tens of billions of dollars more in civil and criminal fines and penalties from the U.S. government.

Read more: http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/day-of-remembrance-1-year-after-gulf-oil-disaster

[Turbineguy]

1. Let's hope for BP's sake

their suppliers don't step in with their tales of, "send us the cheapest shit you got!"

[Selatius]

2. Hell, sometimes they don't even follow that principle.

Yes, you might be the contractor that could provide the parts for the lowest price, but in some cases, the dude who is friends with the company owners will get the contract over you, even though your bid was lower than his.

In any case, you can bet a bunch of corporations are going to sue each other to try to pass the buck for paying the 40 billion in clean-up costs.

[xchrom]

3. The blame game. Nt

[katnapped]

4. Aw come on now...

Should be obvious it's the worker's faults, along with the Gulf of Mexico for just being there in the first place :sarcasm:

[florida08]

5. this will be interesting

from what has been reported BP falsified the tests on the BOP in Alaska for years so it's hard to attest that safety was a priority.


http://my.firedoglake.com/sfriendly/2010/05/12/whistleblower-bp-falsified-tests-on-its-blowout-preventers/

[marions ghost]

6. they need more money

...might as well sue.

BP's fault primarily.

[Arctic Dave]

7. Yeah, good luck with that.

BP will have to prove they tested all safety systems for the parameters they going to be working in and signed off on them. If BP has no records of them, then they never tested them to begin with.

I'm sure the rig owners will counter sue because BP countinued the well even though they were getting screwed up readings.