British Petroleum

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Charges Loom in Deepwater Disaster

Engineers, at least one supervisor under the gun

(Newser) - US authorities are on the verge of bringing their first criminal charges related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, with several Houston-based engineers and at least one BP supervisor likely facing felonies, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The men are suspected of providing false information to regulators regarding the risks...

BP: Halliburton Torched Evidence in Gulf Oil Spill

And computer modeling data 'inexplicably missing'

(Newser) - Halliburton has both intentionally destroyed and conveniently lost evidence relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster , according to court documents filed by BP. “Halliburton has steadfastly refused to provide these critical testing and modeling results in discovery,” BP’s court filing says, according to CNN . “BP has now...

Federal Report Blames Lousy BP Decisions for Gulf Spill

Company was 'ultimately responsible' for last year's disaster

(Newser) - A key federal report lays much of the blame on BP for the worst offshore oil spill in US history and the deaths of 11 rig workers, particularly with regard to the cement seal that was put in place the day before the explosion that triggered the spill. The report,...

BP Fined $25M for 2006 Alaska Spills

It's the largest per-barrel assessment ever imposed for a spill

(Newser) - Another blow to BP's coffers—and reputation: The oil company has been fined $25 million for two Alaska pipeline spills in 2006 . The civil fines will settle charges arising from both the spills and BP's non-compliance with court orders to properly maintain the pipelines, the New York Times...

BP Sues Maker of Blowout Preventer

Move comes on anniversary of Deepwater Horizon explosion

(Newser) - BP today marked the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion by pinning the blame squarely on someone else—namely the maker of the rig's blowout preventer. The company sued Cameron International in federal court in New Orleans, claiming that the "flawed design" of the blowout preventer was...

Gulf Oysters' Fate Illustrates 'Tyranny of Oil' Risks

True harm of BP spill may not be known for years: Paul Greenberg

(Newser) - Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf, and Paul Greenberg is worried enough about the consquences that he's putting an oyster on his Seder plate. It's a reminder to him that the most devastating effects of the spill happened below the...

UK Consulted Big Oil Before Iraq Invasion

Memos reveal secret top-level talks with BP, Shell

(Newser) - Contrary to official denials, British oil firms were jockeying for a share of Iraq's oil wealth the year before Britain took a leading role in the 2003 invasion, newly released documents reveal. Government ministers held at least five top-level meetings with execs from BP and Shell in late 2002,...

Emails Show BP Trying to Tamper With Oil Spill Studies

Greenpeace digs dirt with Freedom of Information Act request

(Newser) - In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP created a $500 million fund for independent research into the disaster. But in emails obtained by Greenpeace under the Freedom of Information Act, BP officials talk openly about how they can manipulate that research, the Guardian reports. “Can we...

BP's Gulf Cleanup Created 'Spillionaires'
 BP's Gulf Cleanup 
 Creates 'Spillionaires' 
investigation
Apr 13, 2011 6:42 PM CDT

BP's Gulf Cleanup Creates 'Spillionaires'

Many in Gulf Coast got rich in unsupervised spending frenzy: Pro Publica

(Newser) - A Pro Publica investigation introduces a new word in the Gulf Coast lexicon: spillionaire. As in, the nickname given to someone—usually someone politically connected—who raked in a lot of money from BP's unregulated $16 billion cleanup fund for localities. It puts a particular focus on St. Bernard Parish...

Gulf Oil Spill: Localities Went Shopping on BP's Dime
 Gulf Went 
 Shopping 
 on BP's Dime 
ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2011 7:13 PM CDT

Gulf Went Shopping on BP's Dime

Localities bought SUVs, iPads, anything

(Newser) - When BP's Macondo well blew skyward, the oil titan opened up its wallet and doused oil-soaked Gulf communities in cash. And non-oil-soaked Gulf communities. Both of which went shopping, reports the AP in an analysis of what the $754 million that BP paid to state and local governments bought. BP...

BP Managers May Face Manslaughter Charges

Investigation focusing on decisions they made leading up to explosion

(Newser) - Manslaughter charges may be coming down the pike for a handful of BP managers. Bloomberg spoke with three insiders who say federal prosecutors are considering whether to pursue the charges based on decisions made in the lead-up to the oil rig explosion that killed 11. Charging individuals would be an...

Leak Shuts Alaska Pipeline, Oil Prices Jump

Will oil head to $100 barrel again?

(Newser) - Oil prices jumped this morning just two days after a major leak forced the shutdown of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline. North Slope oil flow was reduced by 95% after the leak was discovered at a pump station there, said officials. Though the leak was contained, it's unclear when operations...

Gulf Disaster 'Might Well Recur,' Commission Finds

'Absent significant reform,' welcome to Macondo II

(Newser) - The management blunders that led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion aren’t particularly uncommon in the oil industry, a presidential commission investigating the spill has concluded, meaning there’s every chance it could happen again. The commission blamed all three companies involved in the well—BP, TransOcean, and Halliburton—saying...

US Sues BP, 8 Others Over Gulf Oil Spill

Feds want to recover billions of dollars in damages

(Newser) - The Justice Department today sued BP and eight other companies in the Gulf oil spill disaster in an effort to recover billions of dollars from the largest offshore spill in US history. The Obama administration's lawsuit asks that the companies be held liable without limitation under the Oil Pollution Act...

BP to Gulf Residents: Here's a Bonus ... Now Don't Sue Us!

Feinberg offering $5K to individuals who agree not to sue

(Newser) - The administrator of BP's $20 billion compensation fund is offering Gulf residents cash bonuses to speed up the process, reports the New York Times. But there's a catch: Anyone who takes the money ($5,000 for individuals, $25,000 for businesses) has to agree not to sue BP or any...

Investigators: BP Didn't Cut Corners After All

No one consciously chose money over safety, Bartlit says

(Newser) - The presidential panel investigating the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has come to a startling conclusion: BP didn’t cut corners on safety to save money. “We have not seen a single instance where a human being made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety,” Fred Bartlit, the...

Dead Gulf Coral Points to BP Spill

'We'll never be able to see everything that happened down there'

(Newser) - Damaged coral reefs several miles from BP's blown-out Macondo well suggests the spill inflicted far more damage on the Gulf of Mexico's ecosystem than previously thought, reports the AP. "What we have at this point is the smoking gun," says a government biologist who led a recent expedition....

BP's Alaska Pipelines on Verge of Collapse

At least 148 have received an F-rank due to corrosion

(Newser) - BP's vast network of pipelines in Alaska has been left in a sorry state by severe corrosion, according to an internal maintenance report obtained by ProPublica . At least 148 BP pipelines on Alaska's North Slope have received an "F-rank'," which BP workers say means at least 80% of...

Halliburton Admits Skipping Test Before Well Explosion

Final mix was never tested

(Newser) - Halliburton has ‘fessed up to skipping a crucial test on the cement in the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, the AP reports. The admission was issued late last night, after the presidential commission investigating the spill revealed that tests performed by the company had...

BP's Other Rig May Be Primed for Disaster

Whistleblowers have said the Atlantis isn't safe, but nothing's been done

(Newser) - Oil companies are once again happily drilling in the Gulf of Mexico—including a BP rig that watchdog groups have called a “ticking time bomb.” Well before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, a whistleblowing ex-BP contractor told the government about a host of safety and legal issues aboard the...

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