The United States has banned oil giant BP from obtaining new federal contracts and leases, citing its “lack of business integrity” during the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The action allows BP to keep its current government leases. Meanwhile, three BP officials were arraigned in federal court Wednesday on charges stemming from the disaster. Rig supervisors Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine are facing manslaughter charges for the deaths of workers after allegedly ignoring potentially obvious signs of trouble. A former BP executive, David Rainey, was charged with hiding information from Congress about the amount of oil gushing from the well. All three remain free on bond. Wednesday’s ban against BP came the same day the government auctioned off 20 million acres in offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, nearly all of it for deepwater areas.
U.S. Bans BP from New Government Contracts
HeadlineNov 29, 2012