Transocean cough up

The owners of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which you should remember as the epicentre of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill back in 2010, have paid out a $1.3 billion settlement to the US government as, for want of a better phrase, blood money. Vernier based Transocean, who are the world’s biggest offshore drilling firm had expected to be made to pay anywhere up to $2 billion due to their culpability in the explosion - caused by a wellhead blowout - that killed 11 people and lead to America's worst oil spill. Despite not being as bad as the company feared, $1.3bn is still a vast sum of money and the speed at which this has happened may well set a precedent in the future.

                        

In 1989 the Exxon Valdez ran aground off Alaska leading to the oil spill that previously held the title 'America's worst', yet it was nearly two decades until ExxonMobil finally paid up. In 2008 the case 'Exxon Shipping Co. vs. Baker' was finally settled with the oil company paying $500 million in damages. This time round not only was the time frame much shorted but the damages themselves significantly larger (Exxon has initially been told to pay $2.5bn, a figure later reduced at appeal).

Does this signify a change in attitudes towards such environmental disasters? Perhaps. There are a number of differences in circumstances, for example Transocean is not an American based company while ExxonMobil is and perhaps benefited from some leniency as such. Also Transocean has not decided to appeal its punishment but has simply taken the fine and moved on. Perhaps the company is eager to avoid the massive bad press and boycotts that ExxonMobil experienced in the years following the spill in Prince William Sound.

However the level of public and political anger in the US post-spill may well have brought about the beginnings of a change in attitude towards the companies responsible for environmental disasters. Now that Transocean have been tackled BP are due to be taken to court this month for their culpability in the spill. Once that ruling has been made it will be possible to see more clearly if anything has changed. BP may also be a foreign based company but it has invested over $50 billion into the US energy industry in the last six years. Should they be dealt a large fine it may set a precedent that, however important you are as a company, if you spill oil you will be made to pay.