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Saturday, February 23rd, 2013

BP to Fight Government’s ‘Excessive’ Demands Over Deepwater Oil Spill

Author:     SUZANNE GOLDENBERG
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Tuesday 19 February 2013 13.17 EST
 Link: BP to Fight Government’s ‘Excessive’ Demands Over Deepwater Oil Spill
Stephan:   The thing about the greedy corporations that are ruining our lives is that they really have no shame, but they do have an invincible sense of privilege and entitlement. I think BP has made a major miscalculation in choosing to go before a jury, and hope that is how this goes forward.

BP has announced that it will square off against the federal government in court next week to fight ‘excessive’ claims arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

In a combative statement, the oil giant said it had been open to a settlement in the civil trial, set to start on Monday in a federal court in New Orleans. But it had failed to reach a deal with federal government lawyers.

The trial could potentially result in $21bn (£13.6bn) in civil damages for BP, but the company said on Tuesday it would rather take its chances in court than continue negotiations with federal government lawyers.

‘Faced with demands that are excessive and not based on reality or the merits of the case, we are going to trial,’ said Rupert Bondy, the BP’s general counsel, said in a statement.

The trial is the last major hurdle to BP’s efforts to move beyond the fatal blowout of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which killed 11 people and resulted in the biggest oil spill in US history.

BP has already accepted criminal responsibility for the disaster, pleading guilty last November to manslaughter and lying to Congress and paying $4.5bn in fines. It reached a separate $7.8bn settlement […]

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