Transocean to Petition to Limit Liability in Gulf Rig Blast .

[maddezmom]

Source: WSJ

Transocean to Petition to Limit Liability in Gulf Rig Blast
By MARK LONG And ANGEL GONZALEZ
Transocean Ltd., the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that burned and sank last month unleashing a massive oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico, will Thursday file in federal court a petition to limit its liability to just under $27 million, according to a person familiar with the company's plans and a copy of the filing reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires.

The world's biggest offshore driller is filing the request in the U.S. District Court in Houston under a century-and-a-half-old law originally aimed at helping U.S. ship owners compete with foreign-flagged vessels. While the company may not succeed in limiting its financial liability, the filing could give Transocean an edge in what could be a lengthy, multipronged legal battle against claims for damages from the accident that killed 11 workers.

Dozens of lawsuits have already been filed against the drilling contractor in state and federal courts. BP PLC was leasing the rig from Transocean and is responsible for the costs of cleaning up the massive oil leak sprung by the accident that is threatening the environment and economy of the Gulf shore, according to government officials. Representatives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton Co., which supplied components used in the drilling process, came under fire from lawmakers in Congressional hearings this week, during which representatives from each company attempted to stave off blame for the disaster. It is unclear what the ultimate cost of the spill will be for each of these companies.

The accident and subsequent oil spill "were not caused or contributed to, done, occasioned and/or incurred by any fault, negligence, unseaworthiness, or lack of due care on the part of the petitioners, or anyone for whom petitioners are or at any material time were responsible," Transocean's filing says.


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635204575241852606380696.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

[damyank913]

1. Here we go-get out your wallets America...

[Uben]

2. Already proved wrong.....

"The accident and subsequent oil spill "were not caused or contributed to, done, occasioned and/or incurred by any fault, negligence, unseaworthiness, or lack of due care on the part of the petitioners, or anyone for whom petitioners are or at any material time were responsible," Transocean's filing says."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/12/1626743/oil-spill...

These bastards are trying hard, real hard to shift the blame to someone else. Sorry fucktards, you are going to get sued and there are not going to be caps. Bush and Cheney are no longer in office, so there will be no secret meetings to limit your liability, either! I want Transocean, BP and Haliburton to go down. You don't get to run rough-shod over the environment without paying heavily for cutting corners and causing environmental disasters.

[AllentownJake]

3. I hope they get their ass laughed out of federal court nt.

[baldguy]

4. Nationalize BP, Transocean & Halliburton and sell off all of their assets.

Thats the only way we'll be able to pay for the cleanup.

[jpak]

5. K&R

n/t

[Turbineguy]

6. That would reduce their insurance profit

to a paltry $173 million.

[Blackhatjack]

7. Same as always, 'Tails they WIN, Heads we LOSE' ...

And yet another good reason NOT to let Oil Company representatives meet secretly with VP Cheney to write official energy policies for the US Government.

The $75 million dollar cap, and this 1851 law, have always been in the offshore oil drilling handbook for defense in the event of an offshore oil rig disaster.

The truth.... they believe they are entitled to drill the oil with no effective risk of loss, which will always be pushed off on the Government and the people to suffer. And they will continue to push for offshore drilling closer to land knowing they have 'these cards to play.'