Tag: lawsuit

$11 billion civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill A Brazilian prosecutor plans to file criminal charges against Chevron Corp and some of its local managers within weeks, adding the threat of prison sentences to an $11 billion civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill.The filing in federal court in Campos, Brazil, will likely include a request for criminal indictment of George Buck, chief executive of Chevron's Brazil unit, as well as other staff, three Brazilian government officials involved in the case told Reuters.Transocean Ltd, whose rig was used in the operation, and some of its employees in Brazil are also expected to be charged, according to the officials, who requested anonymity because the case has not been presented to a judge. It is up to a judge to determine whether to accept the charges and proceed with indictments.The backlash against the Chevron spill has highlighted the risks that energy companies face as they rush to get a piece of Brazil's oil bonanza. Chevron's legal troubles come as new oil rules give Brazil's government more control over the country's vast oil wealth. The regulatory overhaul has also delayed investment projects and new drilling licenses.Buck ...

Crew member claims being unaware of the Carnival Corp, whose luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, was sued by a crew member in a first of what may be multiple U.S. lawsuits seeking class-action status over the disaster, court documents show.Lawyers for Gary Lobaton, who was a crew member on board the Costa Concordia, said in a court filing that he was not aware of the "dangerous conditions" of the cruise ship until it was too late to abandon the ship.The lawsuit sought to determine whether Carnival deviated from international safety standards when operating the cruise ship."Costa Concordia's Captain, Francesco Schettino, delayed the order to abandon ship and deploy the lifeboats," Lobaton's lawyers said in the filing.Lobaton, who sued Carnival individually and on behalf of all others similarly affected by the cruise disaster, had sought damages from the company, according to the court filing.Lobaton had also requested the court to assign class-action status to the lawsuit.The 114,500-tonne ship capsized off the Tuscan coast, which left 11 people dead and 22 missing.According to a January 24 BBC report, the number of dead has risen to 16.Carnival could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside ...

The maritime court in the northern coastal city of Tianjin took up the case on Friday A Chinese court is allowing a $78 million lawsuit brought against ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to move forward, after having dismissed a similar lawsuit in 2011, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. The legal action was brought by a group of local aquaculture farmers who believe their sea cucumbers were killed off by two June oil spills in the Bohai Sea. ConocoPhillips had previously acknowledged the leaks.The maritime court in the northern coastal city of Tianjin took up the case on Friday. It pits a group of 29 aqua-farmers against ConocoPhillips China and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which operate a joint offshore drilling venture. ConocoPhillips China is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American oil giant.Approximately 700 barrels of oil and some 2,500 barrels of mineral oil-based drilling mud were released into Bohai Bay during the June incidents. The industrial accidents that led to the leaks occurred at two separate platforms, according to company statements. One platform has been repaired, while the other well is permanently plugged and abandoned, ConocoPhilips said.ConocoPhillips has a 49 percent stake in the field and the remaining 51 ...

$24 million for the cost of environmental cleanup After the Canadian Coast Guard and the federal government washed their hands of responsibility for a beat-up 230-metre bulk carrier grounded off the coast of Cape Breton, the Nova Scotia government issued an order to the Russian captain of the tug boat that lost the ship to come and get it.The MV Miner has been stranded off the coast of Scaterie Island since late September, when high winds caused it to break free from The Hellas, the Russian tugboat that was dragging the ship to Turkey for scrap.The province released The Hellas from ship arrest Thursday morning on a security of $1,050,000, the value of the ship.But it also slapped the ship's owners, Pellas Shipping Company, with a removal order under the Crown Lands Act, and is planning to issue the same order to Arivina Navigation, the company that owns the MV Miner.Both companies must now provide the province with a detailed removal plan.What's more, the province is suing the owners of The Hellas for upwards of $24 million for the cost of environmental cleanup, and possibly the cost of removal, should they refuse to comply with the removal order.But that doesn't ...

Shell shouldn't have been issued an oil drilling permit Royal Dutch Shell Oil may have gotten the Obama administration to approve the most aggressive Arctic drilling proposal in US history, but not without a challenge. A coalition of native and conservation groups filed suit against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement's (BOEMRE) over its decision to allow offshore oil drilling in Arctic's Beaufort Sea.In granting the permit, BOEMRE said it "found no evidence that the proposed action would significantly affect the quality of the human environment."Yet, U.S. Coast Guard officials have repeatedly explained the resources to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean simply don't exist. This summer, Commandant Admiral Robert Papp told Congress the federal government has "zero" spill response capability in the Arctic."The lawsuit filed against the Obama administration argues Shell shouldn't have been issued an oil drilling permit in the Arctic's Beaufort Sea without having a credible cleanup plan in the event of an oil spill."The holes in Shell's plan, notably the lack of a workable oil spill response plan, leave the fragile natural systems of the Arctic and the livelihoods of native communities at risk. Smarter transportation choices, not dangerous drilling ...

Lawsuit against the Australian owners of the the Mermaid Vigilance Mermaid VigilanceFREMANTLE-based Mermaid Marine is one of three companies accused of actions ''tantamount to murder at sea'' in a US lawsuit filed by the family of one of four oil workers who died last month during a violent storm in the Gulf of Mexico.Two of the six men who survived the catastrophe also have filed lawsuits alleging ASX-listed Mermaid Marine and US-based companies Geokinetics Inc and Trinity Liftboat Services were grossly negligent.They claim the crew of Mermaid Vigilance, one of Mermaid Marine's fleet that was contracted to provide services to Houston-based Geokinetics, turned for shore instead of helping the oil workers as they abandoned the disabled Trinity II mobile platform on September 8.They contend the Vigilance's action in deserting the workers was both cowardly and intentional, and they allege Geokinetics was the ''ringleader''.One of the oil workers who died was Aaron Houweling, a 33-year-old from Narangba in south-east Queensland.Mr Houweling drowned in huge seas after shedding his life vest and pushing himself away from the tiny cork life raft that represented the last hope for survival for the oil workers.His body was not found until September 16 after an extensive ...

Global supplier says 'withdrawal of both suits speaks for itself' Global bunker supplier Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc says the law suits filed against the company and certain of its officers have been dropped. In a statement Aegean says that the "securities class action lawsuit previously filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the company, its chairman and certain of its executives as well as the shareholder derivative action lawsuit previously filed in the same court against the company and its board of directors have both been voluntarily withdrawn by the respective plaintiffs".Aegean's president, Nikolas Tavlarios, said, "When these lawsuits were filed, we told our shareholders, customers, and suppliers that they were without merit. We believe the withdrawal of both suits speaks for itself."At least two claimants were believed to be making allegations centred on statements regarding the intrinsic value of the company's securities. From the start Aegean strongly rejected the claims, calling them "without merit" and complaining that they unfairly impugned the integrity both of the company and individual defendants.Source: World Bunkering

Claiming that BP provided false information about the location of pockets of oil BP PLC has engaged in a "cover up scheme" to hide its culpability for the deadly rig explosion that spawned last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the oil giant's partners in the drilling project claims in a newly filed lawsuit.Halliburton Energy Services Inc.'s suit, the latest of several that the project's partners have filed against each other, accuses BP of concealing critical information about the deepwater well that blew out on April 20, 2010.Halliburton, which did cement work on BP's Macondo well, claims in Thursday's suit that BP provided false information about the location of pockets of oil and gas around the well before the blowout. Halliburton says knowing the location of those zones is critical for a cementing job."Profit and greed" were BP's motives for concealing the information, the lawsuit alleges. Halliburton says it likely would have insisted on redesigning the well's production casing if it had known about an additional hydrocarbon zone that BP allegedly failed to disclose."Such changes would have cost BP millions of dollars on a well that was already painfully over budget and behind schedule," says ...

Government asserts Louisiana company misrepresented hull strength of converted vessels The United States has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against Bollinger Shipyards Inc., Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC and Halter Bollinger Joint Venture LLC, the Justice Department announced. The suit alleges that Bollinger, which is headquartered in Lockport, La., made material false statements to the Coast Guard under the Deepwater Program.The government's complaint alleges that Bollinger proposed to convert existing 110-Ft Patrol Boats (WPBs) into 123-Ft WPBs by extending the hulls 13 feet and making additional improvements. As a result of Bollinger's misrepresentations about the hull strength of the converted vessels, the Coast Guard awarded a contract to convert eight Coast Guard 110 foot cutters to 123 foot cutters. The first converted cutter, the Matagorda, suffered hull failure when put into service.An investigation by the Coast Guard and the prime contractor, Integrated Coast Guard Systems, concluded that the calculation of hull strength reported by Bollinger to the Coast Guard prior to the conversion was false. Efforts to repair the Matagorda and the other converted vessels were unsuccessful. The cutters are unseaworthy and have been taken out of service."Companies which make false statements to win Coast Guard contracts ...

Lawsuit over alleged manipulation of crude-oil prices in 2008 re Fredriksen's Farahead Holdings U.S. regulators' lawsuit over alleged manipulation of crude-oil prices in 2008 has shone a spotlight on a shipping tycoon whose risky bets, shrewd investments and buccaneering style have made him Norway's richest man.John Fredriksen owns the trading companies at the center of a civil action brought this past week by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The case brings fresh scrutiny to a businessman with the reputation of a maverick, business interests ranging from oil rigs to fish farms, and an estimated net worth of 6.2 billion, or $10.2 billion, that put him at No. 7 in a recent Sunday Times' list of richest U.K. residents.The CFTC sued two traders and the companies they worked for, Arcadia Energy (Suisse) SA and its Parnon Energy Inc. affiliate, alleging that in 2008 they amassed and sold off a substantial position in physical crude oil to "manipulate future prices." The companies are controlled by Mr. Fredriksen's Farahead Holdings, of Cyprus.Mr. Fredriksen declined a request for comment. In an interview with the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv he dismissed the charges, saying "It's what happens in an oil marketbuying and selling oil. We ...