U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier News

Court Reverses OK for BP to Access Transocean Insurance to Pay Oil Spill Costs

A U.S. appeals court withdrew its decision finding BP Plc had access to $750 million in Transocean Ltd.’s insurance to pay costs of the 2010 oil spill, to ask the Texas Supreme Court a question on coverage. The U.S. Court …

Judge Denies BP’s Bid to Halt Gulf Oil Spill Payments Pending Investigation

BP Plc lost a renewed bid to suspend payments from the court-supervised program administering its settlement of claims tied to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. An investigation of alleged wrongdoing at the Mobile, Alabama, claims assistance center didn’t …

BP Gulf Oil Victims Challenge Economic Damages Claim Settlements

BP Plc’s $8.2 billion settlement of most private economic-damage claims from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is unfair and should be rejected, victims opposed to the deal told a federal appeals court. The agreement inconsistently compensates victims with …

Court Asks Former FBI Director Freeh to Probe BP Claims

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh will investigate possible misconduct by a lawyer involved in making payments to settle claims by people and businesses affected by the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the judge in the spill …

Plaintiffs: BP Acted With Gross Negligence in 2010 Spill

BP Plc and its contractors should be found grossly negligent for their actions in the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well and the subsequent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, plaintiffs’ lawyers told a judge. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier …

U.S. Accountants Group Backs BP on Curbing Oil Spill Payouts

A group of U.S. accounting professors is backing BP’s fight to rein in compensation it has to pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which is threatening to add billions of dollars to its growing bill for the …

Evacuation Saved Lives, Says Transocean Deepwater Horizon Safety Officer

The officer in charge of safety on Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, destroyed in a BP well accident that caused the worst-ever U.S. offshore oil spill, said the post-blowout fire was too big to fight and the evacuation saved lives. …

Day #2 at Oil Spill Trial: BP Drilled Despite Earlier Problems

BP Plc took chances drilling its doomed Macondo well long before it ruptured in 2010, a well design and pressure expert said on Wednesday in the second day of testimony in the civil trial over the Gulf of Mexico oil …

Opening Arguments in BP Oil Spill Trial Seek to Assess Blame

A long-awaited trial over the biggest U.S. offshore oil spill began on Monday, with governments, businesses and individuals blaming BP Plc mostly for the 2010 disaster that killed 11 rig workers and spilled 4 million barrels of oil into the …

Long-Awaited BP Oil Spill Trial Begins; No Deal Yet

BP executives more focused on cost-cutting and oil production than safety should be held responsible for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a lawyer told a courtroom …