I think you're losing the forest for the trees. Corporations are made up of individuals. Individuals who bear the responsibility and power invested in them by

I think you're losing the forest for the trees. Corporations are made up of individuals. Individuals who bear the responsibility and power invested in them by the corporation for whom they work. If the individual is liable, the corporation is liable, both for having initiated the project in the area, as well as imbuing the individual with the power and responsibility they have. That's why it's a total non-starter that BP, Transocean and Halliburton appear to be trying to make responsibility evaporate (much like the hydrocarbons on the Gulf) by passing the buck to other parties. The contract for drilling is in BPs name. It doesn't matter if they hired incompetent drillers (Transocean) to do the drilling. They did the hiring, it's their responsibility.