BP filed claims with Transocean's carriers in 2010, seeking to tap a $50 million primary policy issued by Ranger Insurance and $700 million in excess coverage from Lloyd's of London and other underwriters. The carriers asked the court overseeing the spill litigation to rule that BP wasn't entitled to unlimited access to Transocean's insurance.
The maneuvering over insurance coverage comes as a watershed ruling by a federal judge may push the final cost to London-based BP for the catastrophe to more than $50 billion, wiping out years of profits and highlighting the risks of drilling as the industry pushes into deeper waters and ice-bound Arctic fields.
BP lost its battle for coverage at a lower court, won reversal on appeal, then saw that victory erased last year as the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans withdrew its original opinion. The panel sent the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is holding oral arguments today in Austin, to determine whether the reversal conflicts with state law.
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