U.S. lifts ban on BP winning federal government contracts for first time since Gulf of Mexico oil disaster
It comes just before the U.S. Department of Interior will offer more than 40 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico in March lease sales.
The company said the lifting of the embargo cleared it to enter into new deep water leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP had been suspended from performing any new government work in America since November 2012, after it agreed to plead guilty and pay a $4.5 billion (2.8 billion) fine for criminal charges over the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The oil rig accident killed 11 workers and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
BP has been banned for 16 months from leasing more offshore oil and gas properties and renewing fuel contracts with the U.S. military.
But under the new agreement, 25 BP entities and its Houston-based oil production and exploration arm have been cleared to secure new government contracts.
For five years, BP will have to abide by a series of ethics, safety and other requirements. An independent auditor will also verify its compliance with the deal.
Full Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2580470/BP-regains-ability-work-government.html
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They need to make this a five-year renewable lease - DOI does it with the Tribes all the time.
They need to closely monitor BP's operations and at the first sign of neglect they need to shut them down. The taxpayers can't afford another environmental disaster like the Deep Water Horizon, we are still paying for their (BP's) last f--k up.
Larry - money talks - BP will be back to business as usual under this administration.
That may be true, but the American voting public needs to make sure they let their elected officials know that we can't afford BP's hap-hazard drilling practices any more. The voter needs to take back control of our government.
And they will be right back to their shoddy practices, as soon as possible. I have not seen it myself, but I have heard that one can go to the beach at Pensacola and dig down about 6" and find tar.
The spill was not cleaned up, instead, all the millions of gallons of Corexit they sprayed just created more problems. I, for one, will never forget, and am still very angry about it.
I can't help but feel that this is a huge mistake. Paying a $4.5 billion fine is less than 25% of their corporate profits for one year. Yeah, that's going to hurt them. (NOT!)
You are absolutely right Dowser, thanks for reading the article and your thoughts on this very important issue.