Oil Spill News

Marsh Appoints Woolley and Petit-Lambotte as EMEA P/C Leaders

Marsh has appointed Caroline Woolley as Property Practice Leader, and Alain Petit-Lambotte as Casualty Practice Leader, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). A bulletin from Marsh’s London office explained that the new leaders are “part of its drive …

Louisiana Gov. Adds to Attorney General’s Coffers for BP Investigation

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has designated another $5 million – for a total of $10 million – of the $25 million block grant provided by BP to Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office to support expenses incurred as a result of …

Florida Court Says Fishermen Can Sue Polluter; Is BP Next?

With BP’s offshore oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that commercial fishermen can sue a company that discharged pollutants into Tampa Bay for lost income and profits even though the …

11 East Coast States Hold BP Responsible for Oil Disaster Claims

Eleven East Coast states have told BP they will hold it responsible for any losses caused by its still-growing oil spill in the Gulf, Connecticut’s attorney general said Monday. “Even without oil actually reaching the Connecticut shoreline, this massive oil …

Best Lowers Ratings on BP Captive Jupiter; Outlook Remains Negative

A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A’ (Excellent) from ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a” from “aa-” of Guernsey-based Jupiter Insurance Limited, a captive of BP plc. The outlook for both ratings …

Storm Management

The Atlantic hurricane season forecasts are in and they aren’t pretty. All the major forecasters have predicted the season will be much more active than last season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects an “active to extremely active” …

Declarations

Not Up to Speed “I don’t think speed is in your vocabulary yet. People are just trying to survive.” —Florida CFO Alex Sink telling BP senior VP Bob Fryar his company is not moving quickly enough to pay claims from …

It Figures

$4.6 Million The amount spent by federal and state agencies in Mississippi to help people recover from this spring’s tornadoes, floods and severe storms. Of that total, more than $3.5 million has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency …

Double Trouble: Oil and Hurricanes in the Gulf Coast

AIR Worldwide Reviews Implications of the Gulf Oil Spill for Hurricane Season The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico followed soon after a large explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, 50 miles off the Louisiana Coast, …

Louisiana AG Files Petition Against BP

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a Petition for Discovery and Investigation against British Petroleum in state court in Plaquemines Parish as a result of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The petition alleges that BP …