No - Transocean is a massive drilling company. We are an oilfield service provider. Two different things. If the well cannot be redrilled at the present location, my company could be called out later on to plug and abandon the hole, or even assist in any salvage operations requiring a heavy lift barge.
The fact that they were drilling but not producing makes this a blame game - lots of hands involved, and most of the people that were standing right around the well (which I am guessing was the source of the fire/explosion/whathaveyou) are probably dead. Generally speaking, an uncontrolled well condition (a blowout or explosion from the reservoir) and any related fire will contractually be the responsibility of the operator, in this case, BP. But BP is notorious for trying to cram as much liability as they can back on their contractors, and if they can allege gross negligence on the part of the driller, then that will tie things up in court forever.
However, Transocean is HUGE and a major player, so their negotiating leverage with BP is a lot better than mine. Hopefully, they got catastrophic event indemnity from BP, including indemnity for all personal injury claims and damage to their rig, which, last time I checked, was on its way to the bottom of the GOM.
The claims for this one are gonna be through the roof tho - burn victims? Employees lost at sea? Suckage.
5 Replies
1324 Views