Jeff Byrne

    WITH the passing of the first anniversary of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, things seem to have returned to normal for oil giant BP and Transocean, the operator of the Deepwater Horizon drill rig, except the lawsuit between the two.

    U.S. regulators have approved the resumption of work on 10 wells in the Gulf which was halted after the deepwater blowout — the worst in U.S. history — on April 20 last year.

    Three weeks ago, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement announced it had issued permits for eight deepwater wells to be drilled since February this year, with the imposition of “rigorous new safety standards.” We will just have to wait to see how that turns out.

    BP has set aside US$41 billion to clean up the mess and pay compensation to those who have suffered and are still suffering.

    Of this money, US$20 billion was allocated to a special compensation fund for those who had lost their livelihoods. This is being overseen by “independent” administrator, Ken Feinberg, who says he is close to finishing the compensation payouts. This would be admirable if it were true.

    Hundreds of kilometers of coastline were slicked in oil in the 87 days it took BP to cap the spill. This resulted in the destruction of marine life that provided a livelihood for fishermen. A lot of these people are still waiting. Some say their payouts fell drastically short of their claims while others say they have received nothing.

    A group of fishermen traveled to London last week to attend the annual general meeting of BP. Some had bought a share in BP and others held proxies shareholders had given them to allow them to attend the meeting. However, they were refused entry because their “paperwork was not in order.” They wanted to know why compensation payouts were flowing like treacle.

    Yet, Feinberg says he is nearing the end of compensation payouts. Last year he approved total compensation of just US$3.6 billion. It would seem some claimants are more deserving than others. One can only wonder whether Feinberg will merit a fat bonus if he comes in under budget.

    Indeed, it emerged just recently that BP and Transocean had paid their executives millions of dollars in bonuses. How could they do that? Well, according to Transocean, it was because they had just had “the best year in safety in our company’s history,” according to a regulatory filing. It continues: “Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total potential severity rate.”

    This ability to shirk responsibility by these corporate plunderers is because there is usually someone else to blame. BP says the blowout was Transocean’s fault while Transocean points the finger at BP. So they both walk away leaving behind the mess that they themselves made, along with the damaged lives of thousands of gulf residents now struggling to survive.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)