Nearly three years after a deepwater well rupture killed 11 men, sank a rig and spewed 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP and the other companies involved are scheduled to face their judge in court. The trial is set to start Monday in New Orleans before a federal judge, but a settlement is possible.
BP said Thursday that it will pay $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the massive 2010 oil spill and will plead guilty to felony counts related to the deaths of 11 workers and lying to Congress.
If you think you're paying a lot at the gas pump now, just wait until summer hits. Stronger demand could lead to record gas prices as an economic recovery takes hold and turmoil in the Middle East sends the price of oil upward. How high? $5 a gallon isn't out of the realm of the possible.
Oil industry practices and government rules must be subjected to substantial reform to prevent future accidents similar to BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico last April, said a report released Tuesday by the presidential panel probing the incident.
Seven companies involved in the oil and gas industries will pay the U.S. government a total of $236.5 million to settle corruption charges. An investigation by the SEC and the Justice Department alleges that the companies bribed overseas officials to lower customs duties, extend drilling contacts and streamline the permit process for oil drilling.
The role of BP lawyers in the company's report on the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico is casting doubts on the impartiality of the study.
Though BP has taken the brunt of the blame for the Gulf oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon rig was owned by Transocean, and as investigators delve deeper into what happened on April 20, they're focusing more on Transocean's maintenance practices.
BP and spill fund czar Kenneth Feinberg is taking a lot of flak for the details of the compensation program. One issue is the likelihood that people who take payments won't be able to sue later.
In a sternly worded letter to BP's attorneys, oil rig owner Transocean accuses BP of withholding critical information needed to investigate the cause of the Gulf oil spill. BP calls the accusation "a publicity stunt."
Shares of Transocean soared more than 8% on Thursday after the company maintained that its contract with BP protects it from liabilities associated with the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Formula Capital's James Altucher says that there has never been a better time to pick up high-quality stocks at bargain prices -- as long as you choose the right ones. Altucher recommends three "beaten over the head with a bat" stocks he expects will double in the next one to two years.
The oil industry is subsidized beyond virtually any other business in America, enjoying tax breaks that average $4 billion a year. The massive tax breaks reaped in BP's disastrous Deepwater Horizon project, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, are typical.
Accused Gulf oil spill villain Transocean recently invoked an 1851 law to try to limit its liability in the disaster. A U.S. District Court has ruled that the statute's damage cap doesn't apply, but the settlement of personal injury and wrongful death claims will be slowed down by the maneuver.
At the Marine Board of Investigation hearings into the Deepwater Horizon disaster, testimony shows a trail of troubling BP actions leading up to the explosion. BP execs refused to testify, two citing illness and one taking the Fifth.
News has leaked out of unsavory legal tactics by Transocean, a company involved in the Gulf oil disaster. It reportedly pressured traumatized rig evacuees to sign statements protecting the company. Now, Transocean is maneuvering in court to limit its liaibility.
Profits at British oil giant BP surged 135% in the first quarter, but that good news didn't stop investors from unloading its stock for a second straight day, responding to uncertainty over the costs it will incur to clean up the rapidly expanding oil slick from the loss of a Gulf of Mexico drilling rig.
The Transocean rig isn't likely to threaten the U.S. shoreline with a large amount of oil. And if the well leak can be capped soon, the total spill might be kept under 20,000 barrels. That would be an ecological hazard, but it might not be an awful one.
The explosion in the Gulf that left 11 workers missing could prove very costly for the two companies involved. Their stock prices have already fallen, and the first lawsuit from the family of a missing worker has been filed. Then there's the environmental cost.
