WikiLeaks: BP was "fortunate" to have evacuated workers from platform in Azerbaijan after gas leak

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leaked U.S. embassy cables have revealed that oil company BP PLC was "fortunate" to have evacuated workers from a platform in Azerbaijan after a gas leak similar to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

The cables were released as BP shares took a hit in London after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was suing the oil company and several other firms involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The U.S. government accused the companies of disregarding federal safety regulations in drilling the well that blew out April 20, triggering a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and sending millions of gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf.

In one of the U.S. embassy cables, BP Azerbaijan President Bill Schrader is reported as saying the "red button" was pressed after detection of a gas leak on the Central Azeri platform in September 2008.

The subsequent evacuation of 211 workers was BP's largest emergency evacuation at the time.

The cable, released by the WikiLeaks site, says that given the explosive potential the company was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and prevent any gas ignition.

Schrader notes that the incident had escaped media attention, but added it had the "full focus" of the government of Azerbaijan, which was losing $40-50 million a day because of the shutdown, Bloomberg reported.