Zug-registered offshore rig contractor Transocean has awarded bonuses for its "best year in safety performance" despite the explosion at its Deepwater Horizon rig.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
The explosion at the rig last April killed 11 people and spilled 757 million litres of oil into the Gulf of Mexico – the worst oil spill in United States history.
The company said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its most senior managers were given two thirds of their total possible safety bonus. Bonuses were appropriate as a way to recognise its executives’ efforts in “significantly improving the company’s safety record”, it said.
Transocean noted “the tragic loss of life” in the Deepwater Horizon explosion. But it said the company still had an “exemplary” safety record because it met or exceeded certain internal safety targets concerning the frequency and severity of its accidents, according to the filing.
Safety accounts for a quarter of the executives’ total cash bonuses. The total bonus for CEO Steve Newman last year was $374,062 (SFr345,670).
In February, Transocean, the world’s largest offshore rig contractor, reported a net loss of $799 million for the fourth quarter of 2010.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Results at Transocean fall short of expectations
This content was published on
Transocean, with about a dozen floating rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, was hit hard by the halt in drilling there after the well blowout that destroyed its Deepwater Horizon rig last April. Eleven people died in the disaster, which was the worst oil spill in United States history. The company, which has its registered…
This content was published on
The company, based in Zug in central Switzerland, had planned a dividend payout of $1 billion (SFr943,500 million) but the Zug Commercial Court, citing pending litigation relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, rejected the payout in August. The decision was upheld by Zug’s Administrative Court. Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig drilled the well for…
This content was published on
“Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money),” said a report by the White House oil spill commission. The report ultimately blamed management failures for the April 20 explosion that ruptured the Macondo…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.