I wonder how the BP brand will be affected in the long term. I remember growing up seeing the Exxon sigh everywhere and after the spill is slowly disappeared. Now I see BP signs everywhere, wonder if they will start to disappear as well.

BP can't rely on the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 act. First of all, they caused the accident (I think this is what "privity" means in this context). But more important, the 1990 Oil Pollution act supercedes the 1851 act in this situation.

Finally, the value of an offshore oil drilling platform that has burned and sunk in several thousand feet of water is not $27M, it's zero.

Yes, and no. As I understand it the Oil Pollution Act applies to owners of the vessel or those who contract the vessel, in this case the oil rig. The Limitation of Liability Act applies to the operators of the vessel. Trasocean was contracted to BP to do the drilling, operate the rig.

The "privity" section is a determination of fault. In other words the limit to liability attaches only if the operators of the vessel were not at fault. Which is a judgment call because while they were hands-on at the time they were under close supervision of BP and dependent on Haliberton's concreting job. One estimate of odds that the judgment will favor Transocean, that the Limit of Liability Act does in fact limit their liability, is roughly 50-50.

An interesting development. Granted, it is, in the main, unsubstantiated but some of the details seem to have been to confirmed. If this is even mostly true it would be pretty damning.

http://adropofrain.net/2010/05/rumor-schlumberger-exits-deep-horizon-hours-before-blowout/

Of course this does play into confirmation bias on my part because it fees my initial impression of gross incompetence and willful avoidance of established standards and procedures. And feeds my sense of anger, disappointment, and frustration.

Follow the link on that page to The Oil Drum for a lot more insight, commentary, information. A good proportion of it being well thought out and reality based.