British Petroleum may reconcile with U.S. government

International Energy News: On the 15th, the U.S. government sued BP and many other companies involved in this year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and sought at least $5.4 billion in civil compensation.

In April of this year, the "Deepwater Horizon" drilling platform rented by the British Petroleum Group exploded and killed 11 people. The oil leakage at the bottom of the oil well lasted for several months, causing the most serious oil spill in the history of the United States.

The amount of the claim is not capped. The US government submitted a petition to a federal court in New Orleans that day and pointed out that British Petroleum and other companies violated the safety operation regulations, including losing control of the well, not using the safest drilling technology, and not continuously monitoring the well. These erroneous operations led to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 people, and the oil leakage at the bottom of the oil well lasted for several months.

The U.S. government believes that the companies involved have violated the "Clean Water Law" and the "Oil Pollution Law," and appealed to the defendant for compensation and the amount was not capped. A Justice Department official said that the judge will decide whether the defendant’s conduct is grossly negligent.

According to the current regulations, if the court finds that the defendant has a gross negligence, the defendant will pay a fine of up to $4,300 for each barrel of crude oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, and the total amount will reach approximately $21 billion. If the court thinks that there is no gross negligence, the crude oil spilled out of the barrel will be fined at no more than $1,100, a total of approximately $5.4 billion.

Reuters reported that at the same time, the government can identify crude oil leakage damage to birds under the protection of the "Endangered Species Law" and "Migratory Birds Agreement Act," according to relevant laws and claims in the environmental field for additional compensation.

British Petroleum is busy selling assets to raise funds The US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said that the incident surrounding oil wells was "substantially affected" by the oil spill. The US government's claim to the oil spill responsible party is "fair treatment." On the same day, Justice Minister Holder said: "Our criminal and civil investigations continue. We are committed to ensuring that American taxpayers do not bear the cost of restoring the Gulf of Mexico region and the economy..."

The Associated Press reported that companies and individuals have so far filed more than 300 lawsuits against oil spills and demanded economic compensation.

Some individual claimant attorney Steve Herman said that the government's legal proceedings will not affect the people’s claims. "We will continue to seek justice for all the victims in the Deepwater Horizon tragedy."

Last month, British Petroleum raised its estimate of the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to US$40 billion. In order to raise funds, BP sold its assets and negotiated about $14 billion in asset sales as of early November. The energy giant’s net income for the third quarter was US$1.79 billion, making it profitable for the first time since the oil spill.

British Petroleum responded to the U.S. government on that day by saying that it was "just a government accusation ... not any responsible conclusion or judicial decision ... British Petroleum will promptly respond to government accusations and continue to cooperate with all government investigations and inquiries." Some legal experts believe that both sides Eventually settlement will be reached on the matter of compensation, but it may take several years. In addition to the British Petroleum, the defendants of this lawsuit included the Swiss Oceanic Drilling Company, the owner of the “Deepwater Horizon”.

Eric Schaeffer, former head of the Civil Enforcement Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, believes that Halliburton may reach a settlement with the US government.

However, U.S. Justice Department officials said that more indictments and accusations may be added in the pleadings.