The Obama administration yesterday launched a legal battle against BP and its partners by suing them for the worst offshore oil spill in US history, which could cost the companies billions of dollars.
The lawsuit seeks damages from the well owners BP, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd unit MOEX, and well driller Transocean Ltd and its insurer QBE Underwriting/Lloyd's Syndicate 1036, part of Lloyds of London, for their roles in the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
"While today's civil action marks a critical step forward, it is not a final step," US Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters at a news conference.
"Both our criminal and civil investigations are continuing, and our work to ensure that the American taxpayers are not forced to bear the costs of restoring the Gulf area - and its economy - goes on," he said.
The suit, the first by the US government after the April 20th explosion aboard the drilling rig in which 11 workers died, was filed in a New Orleans federal court which is considering private lawsuits against BP and the others for the spill.
BP, which returned to profitability in the third quarter of 2010, has begun selling assets and amassing a massive warchest to pay for damages caused by the oil spill, which the oil concern has estimated could reach as much as $40 billion.
The oil company said yesterday it was weighing the sale of its Canadian natural-gas liquids business.
In response to the lawsuit, BP said it is "solely a statement of the government's allegations and does not in any manner constitute any finding of liability or any judicial finding that the allegations have merit."
"BP will answer the government's allegations in a timely manner and will continue to cooperate with all government investigations and inquiries," the company said.
Legal experts have said they expect the two sides to settle eventually but it could take years. In comparison, Exxon settled government claims over the spill by its Valdez tanker in Alaska in 1991, two years after the oil hit the coast.
The lawsuit against BP and others warned that "the full extent of potential injuries, destruction, loss and loss of services is not yet fully known and may not be fully known for many years".
Shares in the companies targeted in the lawsuit fell in the wake of the lawsuit.
The Guardian today reported leaked US diplomatic cables revealed BP suffered a blowout on an Azerbaijan gas platform in September 2008 and was fortunate to evacuate workers safely after a blast that preceded the Gulf of Mexico incident.
The paper said the latest leaks of US diplomatic cables showed striking resemblances between BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and a little-reported gas leak in Azerbaijan experienced by the British firm 18 months beforehand.
The cables reveal that some of BP's partners in the gas field were upset the company was so secretive about the incident that it even allegedly withheld information from them. They also say that BP was lucky that it was able to evacuate its 212 workers safely after the incident, which resulted in two fields being shut and output being cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day with production disrupted for months.
The Guardian said one leaked embassy cable reports for the first time that BP suffered a blowout in September 2008, as it did in the Gulf with devastating consequences in April, as well as the gas leak that the firm acknowledged at the time.
"Due to the blowout of a gas-injection well there was 'a lot of mud' on the platform, which BP would analyse to help find the cause of the blowout and gas leak," the cable said.
According to another cable, the Guardian reported, in January 2009 BP thought that a "bad cement job" was to blame for the gas leak in Azerbaijan. More recently, BP's former chief executive Tony Hayward also partly blamed a "bad cement job" by contractor Halliburton for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout spilled about 4.9 million barrels of oil over several months. It fouled resort beaches and fishing grounds and led to hundreds of lawsuits over lost revenues and wages.
"This is about getting a fair deal for the region that suffered enormous consequences from this disaster," said Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The lawsuit accused the companies of violating safety and operating regulations in the period leading up to the disaster, including keeping the well under control, failing to use the best available and safest drilling technology and failing to maintain continuous surveillance of the well.
The government claimed the companies violated the US Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act, but the lawsuit does not request a specific dollar amount for damages.
For every barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, there could be a fine of up to $4,300 if gross negligence is found. That would equal a fine of at least $21 billion. If no gross negligence is found, the fine could be up to $1,100 per barrel or almost $5.4 billion.
It will be up to the judge to weigh the evidence presented in court to determine if the defendants were grossly negligent in their conduct, a Justice Department official said.
The Justice Department could also seek additional fines for harm to any animals protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, among other environmental laws.
The lawsuit did not name Halliburton or Cameron International which provided well equipment, but Justice Department officials made it clear more defendants and charges could be added later.
Reuters
