(Reuters) - Transocean Ltd's CEO said new court papers from the U.S. Justice Department talking of gross negligence in the Macondo oil spill are merely "elevated rhetoric" stemming from ongoing discussions between all the parties involved.
The U.S. government and BP Plc, operator of the Gulf of Mexico well in 2010 that ruptured and destroyed the Transocean rig drilling it, are engaged in talks to settle civil and potential criminal liability, though neither side will comment on the status of negotiations.
Government lawyers wrote of "gross negligence and willful misconduct" in an August 31 filing in federal court in New Orleans, where the trial is slated for January 2013. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21 billion.
