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BP faces extra $60bn in legal costs as US loses patience with Gulf clean-up

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kpete Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 09:07 PM
Original message
BP faces extra $60bn in legal costs as US loses patience with Gulf clean-up
Source: Guardian UK


BP faces extra $60bn in legal costs as US loses patience with Gulf clean-up

Government fines could send oil firm's bill soaring in wake of Deepwater Horizon disaster

The oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico could present BP with much higher costs than previously thought as a result of US government penalties of up to $60bn (£40bn), according to City analysts.

The penalties are in addition to BP's already huge bill for the clean-up mission, which stood at $760m yesterday, and potentially unlimited damages payable by the company to fishermen and other affected local communities. BP also faces billions of dollars of lost earnings as a result of its damaged reputation in the US, which could result in it being barred from bidding for future contracts.

The Guardian has obtained a confidential briefing, from a top-level US environmental lawyer who specialises in oil industry litigation, to stockbroker Canaccord, assessing the financial impact of impending legal action on BP.

He warned that, under US law, BP is liable for $1,100 in civil penalties for each spilt barrel of oil and gas, to be paid to the US federal and affected state governments. If BP is found to have acted with gross negligence – and there is no evidence so far that it has – this fine would rise to $4,300 for each barrel.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/26/bp-extra-60bn-legal-costs
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MadMaddie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 09:11 PM
Response to Original message
1. only 60bn......it should be a rolling $$ clock
Not enough....I hope their losses continue to climb
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 09:15 PM
Response to Original message
2. So far they haven't been fined a dime, have they?
Or forked over a penny?

They really need to PAY. They really need to be SEEN to pay. Better yet, they need to be seen to be forced to pay.
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mzteris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 09:35 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. I seem to remember reading that they're handing out checks
left and right...
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chill_wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 11:28 PM
Response to Reply #2
7. So far, BP has only paid 295 claims out of the 4,700 claims
Edited on Tue May-25-10 11:33 PM by chill_wind
made against the company for damages and losses incurred from the Deepwater accident.



10 Critical Facts about BP and the Gulf of Mexico Crisis


1. On May 10, BP said it had already spent $350 million as a result of the Deepwater Horizon accident.

2. By contrast, in the first three months of this year, BP made $93 million per day in pure profits. This does not include the huge salaries and perks of its executives that are considered “costs,” not profits. Thus, BP has spent what might seem to many people to be a big number on the accident ($350million) but it is only equivalent to 4 days of pure profits for BP.

3. BP has a market value (BP’s assets) of $152.6 billion.

4. So far, BP has only paid 295 claims out of the 4,700 claims made against the company for damages and losses incurred from the Deepwater accident.



see the rest:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8413624

Again, according that, the crisis so far has cost them four days' pure profits. That doesn't mean they won't still eventually get to many more of the remaining mentioned 4700 claims. Official talking points are that "no claims have been denied so far."

But if past is prologue, there is also the bigger picture (see same link)



Citigroup analysts have formally advised investors not to worry too much about “the likely costs to the company .” The Citigroup analysis notes that punitive damages against Exxon for the Exxon-Valedz oil spill in 1989 were originally set by the courts at $5 billion but reduced by 90 percent when the case reached the Supreme Court in 2008. The total cost to Exxon was $500 million in compensation damages and $500 million in punitive damages. The total cost imposed on Exxon after 20 years of litigation amounted to only $1 billion, or the equivalent of just 12 days worth of BP’s pure profits ($93 million per day) in the first three months of this year. Because of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, BP and any other oil company that is responsible for an offshore oil accident is not legally required to pay more than $75 million in damages above the oil recovery costs. Thus, the government’s response to the Exxon Valdez accident was to actually protect the Oil Giants by limiting their liability and risk exposure in the event of a catastrophic accident. Again, the $75 million limit is less than 1 day of BP’s pure profits
in 2010.



And this:



The Obama administration maintains there should be no limit on oil companies' spill liability, but a top Justice Department official said it is not proposing to change the $75 million limit on BP PLC's Gulf of Mexico spill because the company has pledged to pay all legitimate claims.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8414028





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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 04:22 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. How far can you bend over backwards before you are permanently broken?
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chill_wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. It feels a lot like we are already there, doesn't it? :-( The icing on the cake
for me in all this part of it, anyway:



...but a top Justice Department official said it is not proposing to change the $75 million limit on BP PLC's Gulf of Mexico spill because the company has pledged to pay all legitimate claims.

"We are focused on the future," Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, the department's No. 3 official, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the BP spill's 36th day.

Still, Perrelli said, Congress would be on solid constitutional ground if it wanted to raise the liability caps retroactively on BP for economic damages.



Does anybody really think BP owned (Bought and Paid) Congress is going to do this-- "fix it later"?
I think Scentopine down thread probably has it right.
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Kablooie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 09:45 PM
Response to Original message
4. And there is no limit to the amount of civil penalties for spilt oil.
Edited on Tue May-25-10 09:50 PM by Kablooie
It could be around 200 million a day in penalties assuming $4000 a barrel and 50,000 barrels a day.
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midnight armadillo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 10:12 PM
Response to Original message
5. $239 billion in revenue in 2009
Hm, $60 billion might cause BP some pain.

On second thought, they have 18 billion barrels of oil in "proved reserves", worth $1.2 trillion at $70/barrel, so maybe $60 billion is just a starting point, eh? (source: http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9021229&contentId=7039276)
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cstanleytech Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-10 10:24 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. Ya know I got a better idea, rather than fine them money just sieze
all their assets within US territory then.
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Poll_Blind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #6
11. No shit man, I'm leaning toward that myself, LOL! n/t
PB
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scentopine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-26-10 12:46 AM
Response to Original message
8. None of these damages can be recovered without
a court fight. BP is on the hook for $75 million officially and perhaps some smaller fines. To make this region whole again will take decades of court battles and they have all the time in the world.

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