Court affirms BP responsibility for oil spill penalties

BP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are responsible for federal fines stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an appeals court affirmed.

The Wednesday decision was on an appeal of a June ruling that the disaster was caused by the Macondo well, which was owned by BP with Anadarko as a minority owner.

{mosads}The oil companies wanted Transocean, owner of the drilling rig and blowout preventer, to be responsible for the Clean Water Act violations, which could lead to $18 billion in fines, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reported.

Wednesday’s ruling was from the same three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that decided the initial case. BP and Anadarko have asked the entire court to review the decision.

Transocean has already pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to pay $1 billion for Clean Water Act violations.

The oil companies argued that while the oil in the spill came from their well, it went through Transocean’s equipment before hitting the waters of the Gulf, so Transocean should be more responsible, the newspaper said.

The judges rejected that argument in the Wednesday ruling.