U.S. Government Prosecutes BP

U.S. Attorney General Holder announced on the 15th that the U.S. government has filed a civil lawsuit against 9 companies, including BP, involved in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The claim is not capped.

In addition to BP, which has leased and operated oil spill drilling platforms, the companies that have been prosecuted include the Swiss Oceanic Drilling Company that owns the drilling platform and its related subsidiaries, and Anadarko Oil, which owns a small portion of the oil spill wells. The company and Mitsui Petroleum Development Corporation, as well as Lloyd's underwriting for BP.

Holder said that before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 this year triggered an oil spill, these defendant companies violated relevant safety and operational norms. The US government intends to prove in court that these companies The illegal operation caused an oil spill.

According to the "Oil Pollution Law," the U.S. government believes that these companies violated the law and demanded that they pay compensation for all oil pollution clean-up expenses, oil pollution losses, and destruction of natural resources. There is no upper limit for the amount of compensation. In addition, the lawsuit also requires the defendant to make civil compensation under the Clean Water Law.

Prior to Holde’s speech, the petition filed earlier in the day with a federal court in New Orleans. Before the U.S. government initiated the lawsuit, thousands of individuals and companies affected by the oil spill have filed a lawsuit against BP. US media calculated that various types of lawsuits against BP have now been consolidated into about 300 class actions in federal court.

The Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform leased by BP exploded and sank in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 this year. The large oil wells that were drilled in the Makongduo oilfield immediately caused massive oil spills, causing the worst crude oil leakage accident in the United States.