Oil Spill Liability in the United States and Brazil: Deepwater Horizon's Warning for the Tupi Oil Fields

Resumo

ABSTRACT: This article provides an overview of the American and Brazilian liability system triggered when chance or human error allows an oil spill to occur. Section II of the article discusses the factual background to the Deepwater Horizon spill and the present state of all claims brought against British Petroleum. Section III then describes the private claims against British Petroleum, outlining the legal analysis of responsible parties under the Oil Pollution Act, limitation of liability, circumvention of the pure economic loss doctrine, private claims sounding in state law rather than the federal OPA, and finally discusses the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. Section IV delves into the nature of claims brought by the public sector against British Petroleum, both civil penalties and natural resource damages. Section V moves into the Brazilian legal environment and the potential for damages there. The section discusses background law, the regulatory environment, and mentions some previous spills of significant effect in Brazil. Section VI discusses the potential for private torts in Brazil. Section VII then outlines Brazilian public claims against an oil spill polluter and the calculation of natural resource damages. The article concludes in Section VIII with a brief comparison of the systems in action.

KEYWORDS: Oil Spill, Liability, Deepwater Horizon, Tupi, Environmental Law.