Transocean to Pay $1 Billion For Oil Spill

Transocean RIG, the Zug, Switzerland-based offshore oil driller which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which exploded and sank over BP's Macondo well in April 2010, will pay $1 billion in civil penalties for the oil spill. A U.S. District judge said that he saw "no just reason for delay," in ruling on the civil settlement. Last week, in a different court, the company pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreed to pay a $400 million criminal penalty. The explosion of the drilling rig killed 11 rig workers and triggered the country's worst offshore oil spill ever. The stock is largely unchanged on Tuesday and was last trading down around 0.12 percent to $56.19 on the session. Over the last year, RIG is up around 11 percent with most of the gains coming in the last three months when the stock rose around 24 percent. In recent days, hedge fund managers and other institutional investors have released quarterly 13-F filings which reveal their long equity positions. Transocean has showed up on a number of them and it would appear as if smart-money traders have been acquiring the stock. One new investor is legendary activist Carl Icahn, who acquired a 1.56 percent stake in the company in January. Current investors in Transocean are likely happy to see Icahn, who is known for pushing for shareholder friendly policies, involved in the name. The settlement of both the criminal and civil cases involving the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig also appears to be a positive development for the company and the stock.