BP Managers May Face Manslaughter Charges Following Gulf Oil Spill: Bloomberg Report

LONDON (By Tom Bergin and Dominic Lau) – Shares in oil major BP (BP.L) fell 2.0 percent on Tuesday after a media report that the company's managers may face manslaughter charges following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and an analyst downgrade.

U.S. prosecutors are considering whether to pursue manslaughter charges against BP managers for decisions made before the explosion on the rig that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, a report from Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

BP has admitted mistakes in the run-up to the rig blast but has denied accusations that it was "grossly negligent", a charge that could add tens of billions to the final bill it pays for the disaster.

"A manslaughter charge makes a charge of gross negligence more likely," one dealer said.

If BP is found to be grossly negligent, the maximum possible fines it faces would rise to over $21 billion from around $5 billion.

Also, this may mean the company is unable to force its partners in the well to pay their 35 percent share of the total clean-up bill -- now estimated at $42 billion.

It could also open the floodgates to legal claims worth many billions.

BP declined to comment.

Another dealer said a downgrade from Collins Stewart also weighed on the shares. The brokerage cut BP to "sell" from "hold", partly due to the spat between the company and its oligarch partners in its Russian joint venture TNK-BP (TNBP.MM), traders said.

BP shares traded down 2.0 percent at 0950 GMT (5:50 a.m. ET), against a 0.8 percent drop in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index (.SXEP).

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Erica Billingham and David Holmes)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Amy Fleischer]

05:14 PM on 04/02/2011

Do it. And let them rot in prison. Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks cutting corners to save a few dollars would be a good idea.

[Sam Salinitis]

10:17 PM on 03/31/2011

finally.

[absolument]

10:03 PM on 03/31/2011

The wheel of justice
Might grind slow
But it grinds fine!

[imusintheevening]

06:48 PM on 03/31/2011

criminal negligence has been a no brainer for this from the beginning

[absolument]

10:04 PM on 03/31/2011

Yes, and the folks with no-brainz, aka lawyers, just figured it out! I say let's celebrate what justice we get when we get it, and lament what justice we don't get only when we're sure we won't get it.

[Dr Juan]

08:58 AM on 03/31/2011

I was amazed in the DNV report by the photographs. All the rubber that is supposed to seal things up had vanished. There must be something about the temperature and drilling environment that caused the rubber to weaken, degrade or disintegrate. The report claimed many of the rams were closed properly but yet no seal was established.

And the explanation that the drill pipe buckled way off to the side of the BOP bore did not make any sense to me. The drill pipe is very stiff and was centralized by the closed annular 20 feet above the shear ram and by the upper multiram just ten feet below. If I read the report correctly, these were both closed and are capable of keeping the pipe on the bore center line. And both were thought capable of actually stopping the flow - but didn't. This was never addressed in the report. Ditto for the casing shear ram which was latter activated by the botts.

Of course after the blowout occurs, with little fluid left in the well, the pressure on the rams may have been well above the BOP capability. Next time close the rams sooner guys! Big operational error to wait so long!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51393879/DNV-Report-EP030842-for-BOEMRE-Volume-I

[krz2]

05:16 AM on 03/31/2011

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7804922/BP-chief-Tony-Hayward-sold-shares-weeks-before-oil-spill.html

[Edy Williams]

01:28 AM on 03/31/2011

Why dont they provide many free thousands of barrells of Oil, & a New Sea Woorld there, in the vicinity for what is possibly left to replenish?

[americaforme]

10:48 PM on 03/30/2011

This is good news, manslaughter is definately the charge!

[Osapient1]

05:31 PM on 03/30/2011

If it is for the 11 on the rig, the headline is innaccurate. The manslaughter charges would be for the rig explosion not the spill...

[Michelle Black]

05:29 PM on 03/30/2011

http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/
Study: Death toll from Deepwater Horizon disaster may be 50 times higher than believed — “A grave underestimation”

[Dal LaMagna]

04:08 PM on 03/30/2011

Now that the Supreme Court has affirmed that Corporations are people why don't we just charge the BP Corporation in criminal court for manslaughter with a possible death penalty verdict.

[krumudgen]

12:56 PM on 03/30/2011

Why did it take the prosecuters this long to bring these charges?

[imusintheevening]

06:49 PM on 03/31/2011

the wheels of justice grind slow but fine

[Notsurprisedanymore]

12:35 PM on 03/30/2011

denied accusations that it was "grossly negligent" Oh please...it would be a find day to see justice done to these people...but I won't hold my breath that it will ever happen. Look at what is going on in the "clean up" and pay to the people that lost everything. Yup they gave a huge raise to the man "overseeing" the pay out funds...to not pay out so much. Manslaughter? Sure..when pigs fly.

[totaldisbelief]

11:05 AM on 03/30/2011

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/305096#ixzz1HsjsqUUn
in case you're trying to keep up with the cover up.

[Dr Juan]

08:43 PM on 03/31/2011

Your right - just more cover up and ordered by Obama no less! Liberals here will be horrified.
But what do you expect from government of the people by the banks for the corporations - both sides now.

[tacevad]

10:47 AM on 03/30/2011

The flip side of the rights of a person are the responsibilities of one.Does This Supreme Court want to grant one and shield the other for the Corporations? Enquiring minds want to know.