Oil rig workers feeling compensation frustration

Two oil rig workers who were caught up in one of Australia's worst oil disasters, the 2009 Montara blowout off the north coast of Western Australia, are wondering why they are being treated differently to oil workers involved in the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Earlier this month BP agreed in principle to pay a further $8 billion in compensation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, which claimed 11 lives and led to nearly 5 million barrels of oil being spilled into the sea off the United States coast.

However, in Australia, operator PTTEP denies responsibility for the Montara blowout and is locked in a legal battle with Bruce Taplin and Peter Dowse.

The two workers were the last to leave the Montara platform after the blowout in August, 2009.

They are seeking compensation for mental and emotional trauma, and for loss of earnings.

And they say it is outrageous that PTTEP Australasia is dragging its heels when a company like BP is settling cases from the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Lawyer Tim Kucera says his clients have seen BP moving to resolve claims and they are wondering why theirs have not been dealt with.

"The Montara incident happened before what happened in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

"My clients are looking at this and saying 'look, if it's good enough for BP, why isn't it good enough for PTTEP to sit down and resolve these issues?'

"They both involved blowouts, they both involved a large amount of oil being discharged into the sea.

"The only significant difference between the two incidents is that the people that were on the Montara rig weren't incinerated at the time of the blowout, which is what happened in the Gulf of Mexico."

PTTEP is defending the legal claim through its insurer.

Mr Kucera says this makes things difficult for his clients.

"What their defences do is they deny that they breached the duty of care, which they acknowledge they owed our clients," he said.

"The difficulty that creates for us is this: there's a Commonwealth government inquiry report which clearly sheets responsibility home to PTTEP for the whole disaster.

"I think everyone in the community would've thought that the findings in that report would've brought those issues to a close, but in reality what's taking place is that our clients are about to go into a fight for compensation."

Mr Kucera says Mr Taplin's compensation payments under the West Australian workers compensation system ran out some months ago.

Mr Dowse is facing a similar problem when his compensation payouts end this July.

"Those blokes are up against it when it comes to meeting day-to-day expenses and their bills," he said.

"Despite public promises to make good their mess, we're seeing our clients being put under the same sorts of pressures you typically see in these kinds of compensation cases."

A spokesman for PTTEP says the company will not be commenting because the matter is in the hands of its insurer.

The lawyers for the insurer have not responded to a request for information.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-12/montara-oil-rig-workers-seek-compensation/3883396