TransOcean LTD.

Rig Survivors Can't Have Claims Heard Until They Go To The Doctor, Says Transocean

Zoe Schlanger | July 8, 2011, 3:50PM

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks; the Transocean form presented to survivors (inset)

Faced with mounting personal injury claims, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. is pushing hard for survivors of the Deepwater Horizon disaster to submit to physical and mental exams before their cases can be heard in court. The drilling giant, who owned the rig, has preselected doctors and scheduled appointments for 15 of its former employees who say they sustained psychological and physical injuries from the April 20, 2010 explosion that killed 11 members of the 126-person crew.

The motion takes a brusque tone with the employees' refusal thus far to comply with previous urgings from Transocean.

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Oil Spill Commission

Commish: Poor Management That Caused BP Oil Spill Is Industry-Wide

Rachel Slajda | January 6, 2011, 9:43AM

Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling platform sinks during Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

The Deepwater Horizon blowout that lead to the worst oil spill in U.S. history was caused by poor management -- poor management that, according to the presidential Oil Spill Commission, is industry-wide.

The commission, which has released some of its findings on the causes of the blowout, says the blowout could have been prevented by better management by BP and its partners, Halliburton and Transocean.

"The blowout was not the product of a series of aberrational decisions made by rogue industry or government officials that could not have been anticipated or expected to occur again," the report reads. "Rather, the root causes are systemic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur."

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Despite Moratorium, Drilling Contractors Keep Workers On The Payroll

Rachel Slajda | August 9, 2010, 9:22AM

An oil rig at Port Arthur, TX

Transocean, the largest offshore drilling contractor in the Gulf of Mexico, told shareholders last week that it's keeping all of its employees on the payroll pending the lifting of a deepwater drilling moratorium.

Those who oppose the moratorium -- Gulf Coast politicians, for example -- have cited the loss of jobs in arguing against the six-month ban.

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BP

Feds To Focus On Oil Co's, Gov't Regulators In Criminal Probe

Rachel Slajda | July 28, 2010, 11:29AM

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster washes ashore in Louisiana

The federal criminal investigation into the Gulf oil spill will focus on BP, Transocean and Halliburton -- and their connections to federal regulators.

The Washington Post reports today that investigators known as the "BP Squad," including people from the EPA, the Coast Guard, the FBI and other agencies, are assembling in New Orleans. They'll investigate not only the oil companies, but the role the former Minerals Management Service may have played in the disaster.

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TransOcean LTD.

Transocean Stonewalls Congress On 'I'm Not Hurt' Forms Signed By Rig Workers

Justin Elliott | June 11, 2010, 8:49AM

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks; the Transocean form presented to survivors (inset)

A Democratic congressman is demanding more information from drilling giant Transocean about the forms signed by Deepwater Horizon rig workers stating they were not hurt and were not witnesses of the explosion that brought down the rig April 20.

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) has fired off a letter to Transocean calling its response to his earlier request for information on the forms insufficient.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Senator Demands Info From Transocean On 'I'm Not Injured' Forms Signed By Workers

Justin Elliott | May 20, 2010, 9:05AM

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

A Democratic senator is demanding answers from drilling giant Transocean about the forms that rescued workers from the Deepwater Horizon rig were given to sign stating that they were not injured and they were not witnesses to what happened.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate Health Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, fired off a letter to Transocean CEO Steven Newman calling the company's use of the forms "extremely troublesome."

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Report: Criminal Charges Likely Over Oil Spill

Justin Elliott | May 13, 2010, 8:59AM

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig

Environmental law experts tell McClatchy it's likely the Justice Department will ultimately bring criminal charges against the companies involved in the oil spill, potentially under the Clean Water and Air Acts.

McClatchy reports:

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Dem Rep Grills Transocean CEO On 'I'm Not Injured' Forms Signed By Rig Workers (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 12, 2010, 6:41PM

Transocean President Steven Newman

At a congressional hearing today, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) went after Transocean CEO Steven Newman over why forms were presented to rig workers right after the accident stating they were not injured.

As TPMmuckraker explained earlier, rescued rig workers were asked by Transocean officials to sign forms saying both that they were not hurt, and that they were "not a witness to the incident requiring the evacuation and have no first hand or personal knowledge regarding the incident."

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Transocean To Workers After Rig Explosion: Sign The Waiver Here, Please! (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 12, 2010, 2:34PM

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks; the Transocean form presented to survivors (inset)

When rescued workers were brought ashore following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig last month, officials with drilling giant Transocean presented them with forms stating they had not been injured and that they had no first-hand knowledge of what happened. Lawyers for the workers are now crying foul about what they say is an all too common industry practice to impeach workers' credibility in future legal proceedings.

Some workers are saying they were coerced into signing the form, a charge Transocean denies. But the episode is reminiscent of reports that BP presented Alabama fishermen with contracts that included a no-sue clause in exchange for $5,000.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Oil Execs To Face Senate For First Spill Hearings Tuesday

Justin Elliott | May 10, 2010, 6:23PM

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig

On Tuesday officials from some of the major companies involved in the Gulf oil spill will face senators for the first in a long series of congressional hearings.

First up, at 10 a.m. ET, the presidents of BP and Transocean, the rig owner, as well as a top official with cementing services provider Halliburton, will appear before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

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Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Halliburton Role On Oil Rig Puts Firm Under Scrutiny Once Again

Justin Elliott | May 5, 2010, 11:16AM

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig on fire before it sank, and a sign at a Halliburton plant (inset)

Halliburton is back.

The Houston energy services giant once led by Dick Cheney became the corporate bête noire of the Bush years as one of the biggest (and most troubled) Iraq War contractors. But the company had largely faded from public view since President Obama entered office -- until now.

As the provider of crucial cementing services on the oil rig that exploded and set off the massive spill in the Gulf, Halliburton finds itself under scrutiny once again.

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Gulf of Mexico Foundation

NYT: We Flubbed Description Of Transocean-Linked 'Conservation Group' In Oil Spill Story

Justin Elliott | May 5, 2010, 8:56AM

A ribbon of oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig, and the board of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation (inset)

The New York Times has published an editors' note saying a front-page story questioning the scope of the oil spill "should have included more information" about the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, which was described as a "conservation group" without noting its close ties to the oil industry and Transocean, the owner of the rig that exploded.

The head of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation was quoted as saying: "The sky is not falling. We've certainly stepped in a hole and we're going to have to work ourselves out of it, but it isn't the end of the Gulf of Mexico."

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Gulf of Mexico Foundation

'Conservation Group' Quoted In NYT Frontpager On Oil Spill Has Ties To Transocean

Justin Elliott | May 4, 2010, 3:15PM

A ribbon of oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig, and the board of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation (inset)

A "conservation group" that struck a markedly optimistic tone in a front-page New York Times piece on the Gulf Coast oil spill is made up largely of oil industry executives, and its most recent board meeting was hosted by Transocean, the owner of the rig that exploded, ProPublica reports.

Quenton Dokken, the executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, told the Times, in a story headlined "Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?": "The sky is not falling. We've certainly stepped in a hole and we're going to have to work ourselves out of it, but it isn't the end of the Gulf of Mexico."

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BP

Paying For The Oil Spill: A Guide To Who's On The Hook

Justin Elliott | May 4, 2010, 2:15PM

The Deepwater Horizon rig burning before it sank

There are two broad categories of costs associated with the catastrophic BP Gulf oil spill: one is cleanup; the other is damage caused by the oil -- to shoreline property, local tax revenues, the fishing and tourism industries, and other businesses and individuals.

Here's a guide to who's on the hook for which costs.

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Tony Hayward

BP Chief Claims Oil Spill 'Wasn't Our Accident' Despite BP Role In Running Rig (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 4, 2010, 9:26AM

BP Group CEO Tony Hayward

The CEO of BP is trying to get out in front of potential lawsuits by casting the blame for the Gulf oil spill squarely on the owner of the rig: Transocean. But in doing so in media interviews Monday, BP's Tony Hayward appears to have also gotten out in front of the known facts.

"It wasn't our accident," he told the Today Show on Monday. Pressed by anchor Meredith Vieira, Hayward claimed: "the drilling rig was a Transocean drilling rig. It was their rig and their equipment that failed, run by their people, their processes."

But oil industry experts tell TPMmuckraker that BP, as the lease operator on the Deepwater Horizon rig, most likely did have a role in decision-making aboard the drilling vessel. And six BP employees were on the rig when it exploded April 20.

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BP

The Gulf Coast BP Oil Spill: A Timeline

Justin Elliott | April 30, 2010, 2:28PM

An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

Ten days ago, after an explosion occurred on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig off the Gulf Coast, the initial word from the Coast Guard was that there was no oil spill. That soon changed as the government announced that 1,000 barrels of thick oil per day were spilling into the ocean.

Then, in a dramatic shift on Wednesday evening, the government changed its 1,000 barrels estimate to 5,000 barrels per day. BP initially rejected the new estimate about the spill, which experts now believe could be worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

We're sure to learn more in the coming months and years about what the government and BP knew about the scope of the disaster, when they knew it, and whether they responded appropriately. For now, TPMmuckraker decided to take a look at the course of events, and the shifting public statements of company and government officials on the spill.

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