NEW ORLEANS - A group of landowners along the Gulf Coast and three oyster fisheries in Louisiana on Nov. 1 officially opted out of BP PLC's proposed $7.8 billion settlement for economic loss and medical claims arising from the oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and...
NEW ORLEANS - BP PLC announced Nov. 15 that it would plead guilty to a dozen felony charges brought by the federal government and pay $4.5 billion in penalties over its involvement in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and ensuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Follow this link to view...
NEW ORLEANS - General maritime negligence law claims brought by fishermen against rescue vessel owners and operators that extinguished the fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig before its explosion were properly dismissed due to a lack of foreseeability, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled...
NEW ORLEANS - Transocean Deepwater Inc. and the federal government on Jan. 3 filed a consent decree in which the company has agreed to pay $1 billion in civil penalties, $400 million in criminal fines and plead guilty to environmental crimes to resolve claims stemming from the explosion of the Deepwater...
NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 3 found that a BP well site leader who was aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig must submit to an examination by a court-appointed psychiatrist and provide his medical records to the court-appointed doctor in order to determine whether...
NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 9 affirmed the dismissal of claims brought by the Center for Biological Diversity under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) against BP America Production Co. and others...
NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 17 affirmed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit brought on behalf of BP PLC on the ground of forum non conveniens, finding that the defendants stipulated to the jurisdiction of the English courts and that the federal judge...
NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge in Louisiana on Jan. 29 approved BP Exploration & Production Inc.'s offer to plead guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter and pay $4.5 billion in criminal penalties for its role in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, and ensuing oil spill...
HOUSTON - A federal judge in Texas on Feb. 6 granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss filed by BP PLC and certain of its subsidiaries and former executive officers, ruling that although shareholders have failed to plead scienter against one of the defendants, they have properly pleaded...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice announced that on Feb. 14 a federal judge in Louisiana accepted Transocean Ltd.'s guilty plea for violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) over its conduct leading to the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and that the company will pay $400...
NEW ORLEANS - The federal judge in Louisiana who is overseeing litigation arising from the April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and ensuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Feb. 19 approved Transocean Deepwater Inc. and its affiliates' agreement to pay $1 billion in civil penalties...
NEW ORLEANS - In what published reports are saying could save BP Exploration and Production Inc. more than $3 billion in penalties under the Clean Water Act (CWA), a federal judge in Louisiana on Feb. 19 approved an agreement between the company and the federal government that the company collected 810...
NEW ORLEANS - BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its related entities are additional insureds under policies issued to Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. and, therefore, are entitled to coverage as additional insureds for claims related to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the Fifth Circuit...
CHICAGO - Saying that recoverable oil remains at the bottom of Michigan's Kalamazoo River, the Environmental Protection Agency's Chicago office on March 14 ordered Enbridge Inc. to do additional dredging to recover benzene-containing oil released into waterways during a 2010 pipeline rupture...
NEW ORLEANS - Transocean Deepwater Drilling Inc.'s motion to stay pending appeal of the enforcement of government subpoenas requiring the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig to produce documents related to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)'s investigation of the explosion...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 25 that Halliburton Energy Services Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010, pay the maximum statutory fine and be subject to three years of probation...
NEW ORLEANS - The federal judge in Louisiana presiding over litigation arising from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and ensuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 7 ordered BP Exploration and Production Inc. to pay $128,654,584 to fund the third-quarter budget of the Court Supervised Settlement...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on Aug. 9 refused to create a second multidistrict litigation for suits brought by individuals, businesses and government entities who have opted out of settlement agreements with BP Exploration & Production Inc. to resolve...
NEW ORLEANS - The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 29 withdrew its opinion regarding the additional insured status of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its related entities under policies issued to Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. and certified questions to the Texas Supreme...
NEW ORLEANS - The federal judge in Louisiana who is presiding over litigation stemming from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and ensuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 6 awarded summary judgment to the defendants in suits brought by three Mexican states after finding that they were unable...
NEW ORLEANS - A divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 2 affirmed the dismissal of BP Exploration and Production Inc.'s breach of contract suit against the administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Fund (GFFC), but ordered the judge presiding over the multidistrict court for litigation...
HOUSTON - In an opinion made available on Oct. 7, a federal judge in New York significantly trimmed the claims in a securities class action complaint filed by Ohio state pension funds against BP PLC., two of its subsidiaries and three former officers and directors, ruling that the pension funds had not...
NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 11 affirmed the dismissal of Gulf Organized Fisheries in Solidarity & Hope Inc.'s (GO FISH) motion to intervene to object to the manner in which a second wave of distributions will be made pursuant to the Seafood Compensation Program...
NEW ORLEANS - A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 2 granted BP Exploration and Production Inc.'s request for a further stay of payouts from its $7.8 billion settlement to resolve economic loss claims stemming from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and ordered the federal judge in...
NEW ORLEANS - A 2-1 panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 10 affirmed a decision by the federal judge in Louisiana overseeing claims stemming from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and ensuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to approve a $9.2 billion settlement agreement...