In 2005, a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, exploded. Fifteen workers were killed, 150 others were injured. That refinery is in the news again today because BP has finalized its sale — so that the company can pay legal costs from its most recent deadly accident.
From The Guardian:
BP has agreed to sell the Texas City refinery, where 15 people died in an explosion in 2005, to Marathon Petroleum Corporation for $2.5bn (£1.55bn).
The sale includes part of BP’s retail and logistics network in the south-east US. The deal forms part of a $38bn selling spree BP embarked on after the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
The company has now made disposals worth more than $35bn, which will help pay for liabilities and fines related to the Deepwater Horizon spill. BP has also been keen to scale down its refining operations where profit margins are thin.
WikipediaSOLD: One refinery, partly exploded.
It’s a pretty good deal, this never-ending chain of blow-a-thing-up-and-sell-it-to-pay-for-the-damage-from-the-next-blown-up-thing. Savvy business moves.
Makes you wonder which disaster cleanup will be funded by sale of the Deepwater Horizon site. Only time will tell.
