After 17 months of investigation, a final report has been issued on the April 20th oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the companies responsible for the rig blowout.
According to a report issued by the United States Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement, BP (NYSE: BP) was not the only company responsible for the destruction that took place.
Also bearing responsibility, according to this report, is Transocean (NYSE: RIG), the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), as well as parts Cameron (NYSE: CAM), the company that supplied the blowout preventer.
Transocean, you may remember, issued their own report placing blame solely on BP.
Transocean was responsible for making sure operations proceeded safely.
The report stressed that BP did maintain most of the responsibility for the disaster, a spill that took 87 days to even stop.
Many poor and neglectful decisions were made on the part of BP, including the use of only one cement barrier, as Forbes reports.
BP also did not take the necessary precautions required by law to keep the well in good condition, says Seattle Pi; according to the report, seven federal violations occurred prior to the blowout.
BP announced that they will be required to pay $40.7 billion, which includes fees for the damage claims but not any impending legal settlements or government fines, reported Forbes.
Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) has already paid $75 million to cover some of the costs.
Though Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE: APC) was part owner of the rig, they were not blamed and denied BP’s requests that they help pay some of the fees.
BP shares rose 5% by close on Wednesday after this report was released, rising to $38.29.
Forbes indicated that this is still around 37% below share price before the spill, despite the fact that shares have risen 40% since last year’s low of $27.02.
Transocean shares also rose 4.2% to $58.89.
That’s all for now,
Brianna
