Transocean Settles Case in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Transocean Ltd. will pay $1.4 billion in penalties related to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
Transocean Ltd. recently received approval for its $1 billion settlement for pollution claims related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010, which caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Transocean owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that sank after an explosion on the rig drilling BP's Macondo well.
The Swiss company will pay $1.4 billion, which includes $400 million for a criminal penalty for violating the Clean Water Act. Along with BP and Halliburton, Transocean faces hundreds of lawsuits in relation to this explosion that killed 11 workers and the subsequent spill of millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The violation of the Clean Water Act is a misdemeanor offense. BP, in contrast, pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts and two misdemeanor counts and agreed to pay $4 billion in fines and penalties, in addition to the estimated $8.5 billion in settlements with non-governmental parties.