Well, never one to be far away from the news, and on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP has launched lawsuits against its partners in the venture: Transocean, Halliburton, and Cameron.
In the venture, Transocean supplied and operated the rig; Halliburton supplied the cement slurry and Cameron manufactured the blow out preventer.
Further support from findings has come in the recent Coastguard investigation that cited "the poor training of staff and maintenance of the rig, owned by Transocean, contributed to the explosion and subsequent oil spill, adding that numerous actions by Transocean and the rig's crew affected their ability to prevent or limit the disaster" (thescotsman.scotsman.com: BP boosted by report on Deepwater oil disaster).
"So far, only BP has paid out towards the costs, but commentators in the US have said liability is likely to be divided up between the companies in out-of-court wranglings behind closed doors." (the scotsman).
Its also being reported that Transocean is pushing ahead with plans to pay a $1bn dividend this year despite pre-knowledge of the impending lawsuit.
Elsewhere, I noticed that Sunday papers (The Mail on Sunday), were reporting that BP and Rosneft continue to work on plans to buy-out the partners of BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP.
The article suggesting that the Oligarchs have rejected a £25bn offer and are holding out for £30bn!
But, it appears that the Kremlin and prime minister Vladimir Putin, still appear to support the tie-up which is seen as a major positive.
Finally, BP is due to report on its 1st quarter on Wednesday, with profit expectations of $5.7bn v. $5.6bn last year.
Article links:
- www.guardian.co.uk: BP sues Deepwater Horizon partners for £24bn
- www.express.co.uk: BP SUES US FIRMS FOR £50BN OVER GULF SPILL
- thescotsman.scotsman.com: BP boosted by report on Deepwater oil disaster
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