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GUILTY as charged. Last week a US court found BP grossly negligent in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in US history. It could be fined $18 billion. But the industry may not have learned any lessons.
When the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in 2010, 11 people died and millions of barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.
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US district judge Carl Barbier found BP 67 per cent responsible for the spill, with contractors Transocean and Halliburton also partly to blame.
鈥淏P鈥檚 conduct was reckless,鈥� Barbier wrote. Bob Cavnar, author of a book on the accident, says the ruling is BP鈥檚 鈥渨orst-case scenario鈥�. The company intends to appeal.
聯BP was reckless. The ruling is the company鈥檚 鈥榳orst-case scenario鈥� and it could be fined $18 billion聰
However, the judgment looks unlikely to bring significant changes in the industry. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see anything in there that would change the way we fundamentally operate,鈥� says John Hughett, who was an expert witness for the case.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淏P was negligent鈥�
