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Judge: BP must cover some of rig ownerâ€™s Gulf liability

27 January 2012 03:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. BP is required to cover some -- but not all -- of rig owner Transoceanâ€™s liabilities for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a US judge ruled Thursday, APA reports quoting AFP.

The mixed ruling found that BP must indemnify the rig operator from "compensatory damages" related to the spill even if the claims are the result of Transoceanâ€™s negligence.

But BP does not need to cover any punitive damages or civil penalties that may be assessed, nor is it responsible for covering the costs of Transoceanâ€™s legal fees, Judge Carl Barbier wrote.

"The court defers ruling on BPâ€™s arguments that Transocean breached the drilling contract or committed an act that materially increased BPâ€™s risk or prejudiced its rights."

Barbier stipulated that he has not expressed an opinion "as to whether Transocean will be held strictly liable, negligent, or grossly negligent" for the disaster or whether Transocean will be liable for punitive damages or civil penalties.

BP posted a $40 billion charge to cover the cost of the massive cleanup, compensation to fishermen and others affected by the spill and various government fines.

It has been locked in legal battles with Transocean and Halliburton -- which was responsible for the runaway wellâ€™s faulty cement job -- in order to shift some of the costs to its subcontractors.

Various government probes have spread the blame for the massive spill.

The explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, 2010, killed 11 people, and the Macondo well gushed oil into the ocean for 87 days, blackening the southern US shoreline and crippling the local tourism and fishing sectors.

By the time the well was capped, 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil had spilled out of the runaway well 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.