Vessels monitor a oil burn in the area of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the Gulf of Mexico, Tuesday, July 13, 2010. BP officials have placed a containment cap over the leak in hopes that the flow of oil will be diminished. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) (AP)
Hide Caption
President Barack Obama makes a statement after being briefed on the BP oil spill relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region, Friday, June 4, 2010, at Louis Armstrong International New Orleans Airport in Kenner, La. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (AP)
Hide Caption
Protesters gather outside of the BP offices in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 to demonstrate against the Gulf oil rig disaster. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (AP)
Hide Caption
This image from video provided by BP PLC early Sunday morning, June 13, 2010 shows oil continuing to pour out at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard has demanded that BP step up its efforts to contain the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the weekend, telling the British oil giant that its slow pace in stopping the spill is becoming increasingly alarming as the disaster fouled the coastline in ugly new ways Saturday. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES (AP)
Hide Caption
This image from video provided by BP PLC early Sunday morning, June 20, 2010 shows oil continuing to gush millions of gallons a day, from the broken wellhead, at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES (AP)
Hide Caption
GULF SHORES, AL - JUNE 08: Workers pick up oil patches and tar that washed up on the beach at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 8, 2010 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Early reports indicate that BP's latest plan to stem the flow of oil from the site of the Deepwater Horizon incident may be having some success. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Hide Caption
Oil floats in the Gulf of Mexico near Orange Beach, Alabama, U.S., on Friday, June 18, 2010. The BP Plc oil spill, which began when the leased Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, is gushing as much as 60,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, the government said. Photographer: Kari Goodnough/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)
Hide Caption
Oil cleanup workers hired by BP pick up oil on the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., Friday, July 2, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident is expected to come ashore over the July 4th weekend. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) (AP)
Hide Caption
In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 18:17 CDT, a new containment cap, top, is lowered over the broken wellhead at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Monday, July 12, 2010. Deep-sea robots swarmed around BP's ruptured oil well Monday in a delicately choreographed effort to attach the tighter-fitting cap that could finally stop crude from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico nearly three months into the crisis. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES (AP)
Hide Caption
This combo made from images taken from video provided by BP PLC shows oil flowing from two of three valves on the new 75-ton cap atop the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at 17:04 CDT Wednesday, July 14, 2010, left, and the top of the cap at 17:56 CDT on Thursday, July 15, minutes after the flow of oil was choked off. BP vice president Kent Wells said the oil stopped flowing into the water at 14:25 CDT after engineers gradually dialed back the amount of crude escaping through the last of three vents in the cap, an 18-foot-high metal stack of pipes and valves.(AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES (AP)
Hide Caption
The view from an approaching helicopter shows the armada of drillships and other vessels surrounding the site of the blown out BP well in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Credit Brett Clanton / Chronicle
Hide Caption
Oil gushes from a valve atop the failed blowout preventer (BOP) at the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, U.S., in an image captured by the Skandi remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) camera at 7:35 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST) on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. BP Plc installed a new cap on its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well and will start testing today whether this will stop the gusher while work continues on a permanent plug. Source: BP Plc via Bloomberg
EDITOR'S NOTE: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO SALES. (Via Bloomberg)
Hide Caption
GULF OF MEXICO, LA - JULY 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Distortion caused by heat.) Ships assist in clean up and containment near the source of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill July 27, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. Work continues to put a permanent plug on the well which has leaked an estimated three to five million barrels of oil. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Hide Caption
Hairdresser Karen Jackson wears a t-shirt that reads "We've been BPeed on!" on the front of the shirt and "Gulf Oil Disaster 2010-??" on the back Saturday, July 3, 2010, in Orange Beach, Ala. Jackson says she is worried about the effect the spill is having on her community and what will happen if local business continues to falter. "I would hate to have to leave this place. We love it here." She said her business is way off what it should be for the season, "down here we make all of our money in the summer," she says. Her husband's work as an electrician has dried up she says, so he has signed on to work cleanup for BP. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle ) (Houston Chronicle)
Hide Caption
A driver rolls down the highway with messages such as "$ave the Gulf Coa$t" and "Tony Hayward C.E. O of B.P. Give us out Live Back" while driving Sunday, June 27, 2010, in Pensacola, Florida. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle ) (Houston Chronicle)
Hide Caption
This still image from a live BP video feed shows a view from a submersible while checking the integrity of the well head on August 3, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. BP prepared Tuesday to plug the worst oil leak in history, although the Gulf of Mexico region will be counting the environmental and economic costs for years, perhaps decades, to come. Already delayed by a week due to Tropical Storm Bonnie, the long-awaited "static kill" was put off again at the last-minute when a leak was discovered on Monday in the cap that has been sealing the runaway well since July 15. US spill chief Thad Allen said the leak had been stopped overnight and that the operation to ram in heavy drilling fluids, known as mud, would commence as soon as "injectivity tests" had given the procedure the all-clear. AFP PHOTO / BP == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / NO SALES / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN == (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)(Photo Credit should Read /AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty Images)
Hide Caption
In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 12:23 a.m. EDT, Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 Aug. 3, 2010 shows the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico being raised to the surface. The blowout preventer wasn't expected to reach the surface until Saturday, at which point government investigators will take possession of it. (AP Photo/BP PLC) NO SALES (AP)
Hide Caption
DAUPHIN ISLAND, AL. | JULY 4, 2010 : A cleanup worker, wearing a protective coverall and carrying a small scoop, punctuates an otherwise typical holiday beach scene as patrols the beach looking for tar balls on Independence Day. While exact numbers are elusive, tourist business along the Gulf Coast all reported feeling the sting of lost income from a noticeable dip in tourism this summer following the Deepwater Horizon spill. (Houston Chronicle)
Hide Caption
GULF OF MEXICO | JUNE 26, 2010 : Streaks of oil are seen on the surface of the water near the site of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The amount of oil spilled, and what happened to the oil remains in debate, but in August, the Department of Energy and United States Geological Survey announced, that it estimated a total of 4.9 million barrels of oil had been released from the BP Deepwater Horizon well. (Houston Chronicle)
Hide Caption
GRAND ISLE, LA. | JULY 15, 2010 : Oil containment boom floats just off the pier as fishermen cast lines near the bridge leading to the island after sun sets on the first full day of fishing after a ban on sport fishing was lifted. Commercial fishing remained closed, but happy recreational fishermen flocked to the water on a beautiful evening. Most were BP contractors working on the cleanup. One was Bobby Walker of Houma, La., who said he had been coming to the island to fish for over 30 years and praised the great fishing and natural beauty of the island. "But who would have ever thought I would be here all summer working on the oil spill." (Houston Chronicle)
BP Plc (BP/), operator of the Macondo well that caused the U.S.’s worst oil spill, may reach a settlement for the disaster this week after a partner agreed on fines, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst said.
Mitsui & Co. (8031)’s MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC will pay $90 million to the U.S. and five states to settle pollution violations related to 2010 spill. While BP will probably have to accept different terms as the operator, the settlement suggests that BP would pay $585 million for violations, less than 20 percent of what the company has provisioned, said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer in New York. BP rose to the highest since March in London trading.
“This is only the civil part and does not include possible criminal charges and penalties,” Gheit said in an e-mailed response to questions. “The trials will begin later this month and all parties are eager to settle before then. So there could be very important decisions this week.”
BP shares remain 26 percent below their level in London before the spill and the company has claimed about $40 billion in charges to cover the costs of litigation and cleanup. Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said Feb. 7 that the company would like to reach a settlement if the terms are right.
Shares rose as much as 2.4 percent to 500.4 pence, the highest intraday price since March 7. The stock was at 500.2 pence at 8:21 a.m. London time. BP’s U.S.-traded shares rose 2 percent after the MOEX announcement on Feb. 17, which came when trading in London had closed.
The MOEX settlement doesn’t affect claims against or potential recoveries from other companies over the spill, the U.S. Justice Department said Feb 17. MOEX, a unit of Tokyo-based Mitsui, no longer owns a share of the lease.
Well Ownership
BP had a 65 percent interest in the Macondo well, MOEX had 10 percent and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) had a 25 percent stake. The settlement suggests that Anadarko will be liable for about $225 million in Clean Water Act fines if the terms are the same, Gheit said.
“We can’t really read across anything with certainty,” said Jason Kenney, an analyst at Banco Santander SA (SAN) in Edinburgh. “But this implies that a settlement is possible and perhaps more likely for others, too.”
The settlement is the first of what may be a series of agreements with the U.S. as lawsuits over the 2010 spill approach a trial set for Feb. 27. The U.S. Justice Department sued MOEX, BP, Anadarko and Transocean Ltd. (RIG), which owned the rig that exploded, in December 2010, seeking fines for each barrel of oil discharged.
New Orleans Trial
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who’s overseeing much of the spill litigation, has scheduled a non- jury trial to determine liability and apportion fault for the disaster.
A U.S. motion to hold BP, Anadarko and Transocean liable by law for Clean Water Act violations is pending before Barbier. A ruling against the defendants would allow the U.S. to seek fines against each company of as much as $1,100 per barrel of oil spilled, without having to prove the issue of liability at trial.
The Clean Water Act also allows the government to seek fines of as much as $4,300 for each spilled barrel on a finding of gross negligence. The government estimates that 4.1 million barrels were spilled before the well was capped, putting BP at risk of fines of as much as $17.6 billion.
Set Aside
BP set aside $3.5 billion for Clean Water Act fines, assuming $1,100 a barrel and its own estimate of 3.2 million barrels spilled, according to an annual report extract posted on the company website. The company is negotiating with the U.S. over settlement of the Clean Water Act claims, according to a person familiar with the talks.
Daren Beaudo, a BP spokesman in Houston, declined to comment on Feb. 17 on the MOEX settlement or any possible BP agreement with the U.S. on pollution law claims.
“You cannot extrapolate a number for BP, but it is positive in both being proportionate and timely,” said Stuart Joyner, an analyst at Investec Securities Ltd. in London. “It suggests a moderate to good chance of a settlement pre- commencement of the hearings on the 27th.”
$10M + 25 Years Prison —————- Bribing US DOE officials
$20M + 25 Years Prison —————- Bribing Whitehouse officials
$10M + 25 Years Prison —————- Illegal campaign contributions
$11M + 1100 Years Prison ————- 11 Murder Counts
$5M + 500 Years Prison —————- Negligent Lost Time Work Injuries
$50M + 75 Years Prison —————- Deliberately Scuttling MODU
$20B + 1,500 Years Prison ————- Largest oceanic oil spill in American History
$5M + 25 Years Prison —————– Perjury before Congress
$ 5M + 25 Years Prison —————- Perjury to FBI
$ 5M + 25 Years Prison —————- Perjury in USCG hearings
$10M + 50 Years Prison ————— Obstruction Justice, miscellaneous
Total ~$20,111,000,000 + 3375 Years Prison
Less Cash discount, for additional Whitehouse cash bribes, additional Whitehouse offshore account bribes, miscellaneous political bribes, additional illegal campaign contributions
$3,500,000,000 + 225 Years Prison —— Starting Point Negotiations
Less Cash discount, for additional Whitehouse cash bribes, additional Whitehouse offshore account bribes, miscellaneous political bribes, additional illegal campaign contributions
$585,000,000 + 25 Years Probation —- Final settlement
BP will be forced to settle because no one in the industry wants the U.S. public to know just how non caring, arrogant and grossly negligent their conduct in the Gulf has been. The industry looks with disdain on the welfare of our environment, the safety of their employees and the welfare of the people in this country. The only thing they really are concerned with is the profits to enable them to keep purchasing, through political contributions, so many in our government.
I would wager that BP will insist that certain depositions, reports and writings remain under seal and not available for public scrutiny. For example, we have not, as yet had a ruling on the taking of BP’s chief man on the scene’s sworn testimony and what all that will produce. With all the stonewalling, erroneous information, and evasion that has continued by those in the industry throughout the spill and the litigation, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH IN THIS DISASTER.
I finally understand. You are an investment banker aren’t you??
You can only be that for such a knowledgeable and caring assessment of the attitudes of the oil and gas industry – as perceived from the reading room at your club, as you luxuriate in the rich mahogany surrounds and smell of leather bound books.
However, if the corrupt obama group continues its war on the energy industry, this conjecture could turn to be wildly too optimistic.
BP Fine Calculation
$10M + 25 Years Prison —————- Bribing US DOE officials
$20M + 25 Years Prison —————- Bribing Whitehouse officials
$10M + 25 Years Prison —————- Illegal campaign contributions
$11M + 1100 Years Prison ————- 11 Murder Counts
$5M + 500 Years Prison —————- Negligent Lost Time Work Injuries
$50M + 75 Years Prison —————- Deliberately Scuttling MODU
$20B + 1,500 Years Prison ————- Largest oceanic oil spill in American History
$5M + 25 Years Prison —————– Perjury before Congress
$ 5M + 25 Years Prison —————- Perjury to FBI
$ 5M + 25 Years Prison —————- Perjury in USCG hearings
$10M + 50 Years Prison ————— Obstruction Justice, miscellaneous
Total ~$20,111,000,000 + 3375 Years Prison
Less Cash discount, for additional Whitehouse cash bribes, additional Whitehouse offshore account bribes, miscellaneous political bribes, additional illegal campaign contributions
$3,500,000,000 + 225 Years Prison —— Starting Point Negotiations
Less Cash discount, for additional Whitehouse cash bribes, additional Whitehouse offshore account bribes, miscellaneous political bribes, additional illegal campaign contributions
$585,000,000 + 25 Years Probation —- Final settlement
Easy Math
BP will be forced to settle because no one in the industry wants the U.S. public to know just how non caring, arrogant and grossly negligent their conduct in the Gulf has been. The industry looks with disdain on the welfare of our environment, the safety of their employees and the welfare of the people in this country. The only thing they really are concerned with is the profits to enable them to keep purchasing, through political contributions, so many in our government.
I would wager that BP will insist that certain depositions, reports and writings remain under seal and not available for public scrutiny. For example, we have not, as yet had a ruling on the taking of BP’s chief man on the scene’s sworn testimony and what all that will produce. With all the stonewalling, erroneous information, and evasion that has continued by those in the industry throughout the spill and the litigation, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH IN THIS DISASTER.
CAD
I finally understand. You are an investment banker aren’t you??
You can only be that for such a knowledgeable and caring assessment of the attitudes of the oil and gas industry – as perceived from the reading room at your club, as you luxuriate in the rich mahogany surrounds and smell of leather bound books.