ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN DRILLING SERVICES CONTRACTS FOLLOWING THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL LISA BAGLEY BROWN
I. INTRODUCTION ............................................. II. MACONDO LITIGATION ........................... ...... III.
IV.
RISK ALLOCATION ISSUES IN DRILLING CONTRACTS .....
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A. B.
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Additional InsuredProvisions ................ Waiver of Subrogation ........................... DesignatingPrimaryInsurancePolicy..........
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THE MACONDO CONTRACTS
A. B. C. D. E. VII. VIII.
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Choice ofLaw Provisions
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
A. B. C. VI.
Basic Risk Allocation ........................ Pass-ThroughIndemnity Issues........... .....
ANTI-INDEMNITY ACTS
A. V.
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ContractorGroup'sPersonalInjury Claims..... ....... 454 ContractorGroup's Property Damage Claims ..... ..... 454 Company Group's PersonalInjury Claims ...... ....... 455 Company Group'sProperty Damage Claim ..... ....... 456 Pollution Liability ....................... ....... 457
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS CONCLUSION
I.
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INTRODUCTION
This Article will discuss ethical issues in drilling contracts following the litigation regarding the BP Macondo well blowout incident. Considering the number of people who were killed or injured and the tens of billions of dollars in damages that were apportioned according to indemnities in the drilling services contracts, we should evaluate the indemnities. The topics in this Article include ethical considerations regarding important risk allocation principles common to all drilling contracts, as well as service agreements relating to drilling contracts. The Article addresses specific provisions of the Macondo contracts, including responsibility for loss, payment, indemnities, and related insurance issues with particular examples from how the
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