Deepwater Horizon - Aftermath

Aftermath

Transocean received an early partial insurance settlement for total loss of the Deepwater Horizon of US $401 million around 5 May 2010. Financial analysts note that the insurance recovery is likely to outweigh the value of the rig (although not necessarily its replacement value) and any liabilities - the latter estimated at up to US$200 million.

Litigation, ultimate roll call of damage, and the scope of final insurance recovery are all unknown at present, with analysts reporting that the aftermath is of unprecedented scale and complexity compared to previous disasters which themselves took many years to unfold and resolve. A July 2010 analysis by the Financial Times on the aftermath cites legal sources as saying that "at some point the scale of the litigation becomes so large that it really is novel", that "the situation is likely be complicated further because the variety of probable cases means it will be hard to aggregate them into so-called class actions" and that there is "no way to put this in historical context because we have never faced anything like this before". As with the Exxon Valdez disaster, litigation is being discussed in terms of a 20 year timescale.

On November 28, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a temporary suspension for BP from new contracts with the federal government.