BP Dips: Liability Not Capped; Refinery Violations Surface

The good news this morning from BP (BP), that a tube inserted into the undersea riser in the Gulf of Mexico was succeeding in stemming some of the flow of oil into the Gulf, has not prevented BP from dipping $1.30, or almost 3%, to $45.57, as the final costs of the whole thing still remain mysterious.

As Dow Jones Newswires’s James Herron points out, BP tweeted this afternoon that the customary cap on liability for damages for oil companies operating in U.S. waters of $75 million does not apply in the case of the Gulf spill. The tweet was in response to an inquiry put to BP by Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, the authors write.

Earlier this morning, the Center for Public Integrity reported findings from a Freedom of Information request to OSHA that showed that BP was responsible for 97% of the “flagrant violations” U.S. regulators found in the refining industry over the past three years. The Center tallies the total liability for violations at $90 million.

Now, refinery violations, if true, are separate from issues with the upstream exploration business, which is what the Gulf spill is about, but it’s just another black eye worth noting, as the Center’s report is widely circulated today by Agence France Presse and other wires.