Bonuses for Gulf oil disaster fat cats

This video from the USA on the BP-Transocean-Halliburton oil spill is called Heart Breaking Video From The Louisiana Coast.

From the BBC:

3 April 2011 Last updated at 04:57 GMT

Transocean gives bonuses after Gulf of Mexico BP spill

By Andy Gallacher BBC News, Miami

The offshore drilling firm responsible for running the Deepwater Horizon rig has given its top executives bonuses for its “best year” for safety.

Transocean was blamed along with BP and Halliburton after last year’s massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Eleven workers, nine of whom worked for Transocean, died when the Deepwater Horizon exploded almost a year ago.

But Transocean said there had been a drop in the rate of recorded incidents and also in their potential severity.
‘Exemplary record’

The Deepwater Horizon exploded on 20 April 2010. In the days and months that followed millions of gallons of oil poured unabated into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting President Barack Obama to call the incident America’s environmental 9/11.

Before the well was capped in July, the spill fouled the coastlines of four states, scared tourists away and closed countless fishing grounds. The true environmental and economic impact may not be known for years.

A presidential commission concluded that the explosion had been caused by cost-cutting and directly blamed Transocean, BP and Halliburton for the disaster.

Despite that, Transocean handed out huge bonuses to its executives citing the company’s best year for safety ever.

The company’s annual report acknowledges the explosion on the rig, but goes on to say that it exceeded internal safety targets.

“Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate,” the report says.

“As measured by these standards, we recorded the best year in safety performance in our company’s history, which is a reflection on our commitment to achieving an incident free environment, all the time, everywhere,” it adds.

Transocean has always maintained that BP is solely responsible for the oil spill. BP contends that Transocean shares liability.

From SodaHead in the USA:

Safety accounts for a quarter of the executives’ total cash bonuses. The total bonus for CEO Steve Newman last year was $374,062.

According to calculations by The Associated Press, the total value the company assigned to Newman’s compensation package was $5.8 million.

That figure includes an $850,000 base salary — a 34 percent increase from the prior year; perquisites of $622,057, which includes housing and vacation allowances, among other things; and the $374,062 bonus. Also included in the figure are stock options valued at $1.9 million and deferred shares valued at $2 million when those awards were granted in March 2010.

Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and set off the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

A commission appointed by President Barack Obama earlier this year said the explosion was caused by a series of time and money-saving decisions by Transocean, BP and oil services company HalliburtonInc. that created an unacceptable amount of risk.

Company whose rig caused biggest oil spill in US history rewards executives for “best year in safety performance”: here.

Sea Turtle Deaths Mount in the Gulf – Natural Resources Defense Council (blog): here.

North America’s Smallest Seahorse Endangered by Gulf oil spill: here.

Oil giant BP is negotiating with US regulators to secure permission to resume oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico: here.

BP under siege over oil spills and cover-ups: here.

Has BP really cleaned up the Gulf oil spill? Here.

Is Gulf Seafood Safe to Eat? Here.

Coast Guard unprepared for oil spill response: here.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) awarded Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein $19 million in compensation for 2010, almost double the prior year, and granted him the first cash bonus in three years: here.