Judge rules that rig owner not exempt from penalites

A US federal judge has ruled that the rig owner involved in drilling the ill-fated well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico was shielded by its contract with BP from having to pay many pollution claims in the nation’s largest offshore oil spill.

US District Judge Carl Barbier ruled, however, that Transocean Ltd is not exempt from paying punitive damages and civil penalties that arise from the April 20, 2010, blow-out 100 miles off the Louisiana coast.