In the past week, much has been made of the $4.5 billion fine levelled against British Petroleum for their part in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The largest criminal fine in US history - more than double the amount paid out by drug company Pfizer in the wake of their "off-label marketing" debacle – BP has been penalised for the events leading to 4.9 million barrels of spilled oil and 11 fatalities.
Just two days after the settlement was announced, memory was painfully jogged. An explosion aboard Black Elk Energy’s West Delta 32 Platform claimed the life of one offshore worker, with another still missing at sea.
The loss of a handful of human lives is often eclipsed by the crossfire of legal altercation s and fiscal damages the size of small nation’s GDPs.
Maybe we should read punishments like BP’s payout in a different way: 4.5 billion reasons to improve, 11 why it should never happen again.
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- The Top 10 Oil & Gas Companies in the World
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- Oil & Gas Industry: An Introduction
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LEARN MORE:
- The Top 10 Oil & Gas Companies in the World
- 50 Oil & Gas People You NEED To Follow On Twitter
- Oil & Gas Industry: An Introduction
- Oil and Gas Production - An Introduction
- Oil and Gas Technology: The Future Is Now
- FPSO Resource Centre: Introduction to Floating Production Storage and Offloading
| Have Your Say Rate this feature and give us your feedback in the comments section below |
