BP Offers Full Support To Transocean After Drilling Rig Fire
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010
BP today offered its full support to drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. and its employees after fire caused Transocean’s semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon to be evacuated overnight, saying it stood ready to assist in any way in responding to the incident.
Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward said: “Our concern and thoughts are with the rig personnel and their families. We are also very focused on providing every possible assistance in the effort to deal with the consequences of the incident.”
BP, which operates the licence on which Transocean’s rig was drilling an exploration well, said it was working closely with Transocean and the U.S. Coast Guard, which is leading the emergency response, and had been offering its help – including logistical support.
Transocean reported the fire earlier today on the rig, located approximately 41 miles offshore Louisiana on Mississippi Canyon block 252, saying that a “substantial majority” of the 126 personnel on board were safe, but some crew members remained unaccounted for. A number of personnel were reported to be injured .
Years ago I seem to recollect a similar type of statement having been issued by another oil company after the Piper Alpha disaster.
The key point of the statement being … employees
You can probably forget any notion of that the phrase (employees) includes any ‘sub contractors‘ or ‘freelance’ personnel, the bulk of which make up any offshore operation.
As experienced in the UK… those that are not employees of the operator are in an entirely different league as far as ‘full support’ or compensation is concerned.
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