The Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened well over a year ago now. For the most part, the oil has been cleaned up, businesses and resorts are back to relative normality, and people have moved past the disaster.
But there are a few items of business still outstanding for those involved in the spill -- mainly the fact that BP
That leaves us with Halliburton
A report from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management spread the blame out among almost everyone involved in the disaster. BP, Halliburton, and Transocean were all named on incident of noncompliance charges.
A settlement on the horizon
One of the benefits for Anadarko, and others, settling with BP is the reduction in potential risk going forward. Lawsuits are not only expensive if you lose; they're expensive to fight as well. With everyone around them settling, there will be mounting pressure on Halliburton and Transocean to do the same.
But a settlement also has implications for others involved in offshore drilling. The oil spill and regulatory changes have affected potential liabilities during downtime for rig owners such as SeaDrill
A settlement in the near future might help make that picture a little clearer, at a cost to Halliburton and Transocean.
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