WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- Companies involved in operating the oil rig at the center of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are trying to limit their liability for damages, court filings show.
British energy giant BP -- which is already paying damages to people and businesses harmed as a result of the April 20 disaster -- has set aside $20 billion to help cover losses. However, other companies involved in the operation of the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded and sank to the ocean floor, are filing regulatory documents and taking other steps to protect themselves from exposure, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Untangling the question of responsibility, and the extent of liability, could take years, the newspaper said.
Halliburton says it complied with instructions from the well owner in its role as project contractor. Transocean, which leased the Deepwater Horizon to BP, asserts its only liability is for surface spills. Anadarko Petroleum, another partner in the enterprise, has suggested BP may be guilty of "gross negligence or willful misconduct," the Post said.
Bart Nash, a spokesman for Lloyd's marketplace, based in London, told the newspaper "there is a lot of confusion around where liabilities begin and end," and the question will be unresolved "for some time."
