美国政府暂停与英国石油公司签订新合同

NEW ORLEANS─The Obama administration has temporarily blocked BP PLC from obtaining new contracts with the U.S. government, citing a 'lack of business integrity' that resulted in the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in 2010.

美国政府下令暂时禁止英国石油公司(BP PLC)从美国政府获得新的合同，理由是英国石油公司缺乏商业信誉。美国政府认为，这种信誉缺失也是引发2010年“深水地平线号(Deepwater Horizon)钻井平台爆炸和溢油事故的原因。

But the public reprimand won't affect BP's existing operations and oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said, adding that it expects the suspension to be lifted soon.

但英国石油公司说，这项公开的惩戒不会影响该公司现有的经营活动和在墨西哥湾租赁油气勘探区块。它还说，预计这一限制将很快被解除。

The Environmental Protection Agency imposed the suspension in the wake of a $4.5 billion settlement of all criminal and some civil charges that BP entered into with the Justice Department earlier this month. The charges included a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act.

这项禁令是由美国环境保护署(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)实施的。本月早些时候，英国石油公司花45亿美元了结了美国司法部针对该公司的所有刑事和一部分民事指控。英国石油公司受到的指控包括违反《净水法》(Clean Water Act)这一较轻罪名。

The government imposed more than 100 such sanctions in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, but a suspension involving such a well-known company is 'fairly uncommon,' according to an administration official.

在截至9月30日的12个月里，美国政府实施了超过100项类似的制裁措施，但是一名政府官员说，针对英国石油这样一家知名公司实施这种禁令是非常罕见的。

BP said it was working with the EPA to lift the contract suspension. A draft agreement to resolve the agency's concerns will be available soon, the company said. BP said it 'has made significant enhancements since the accident.'

英国石油公司说，它正在与美国环境保护署沟通，以取消后者暂时禁止其从美国政府获得合同的禁令。该公司说，很快将达成一份旨在解决环境保护署关切的协议草案。英国石油公司说，事故发生之后，该公司做出了重大改进。

The suspension would have prevented BP from bidding on offshore drilling leases in the western Gulf of Mexico, which the government awarded Wednesday. A BP spokesman said, however, that the company had decided not to bid before it was suspended. The lease sale attracted $133.7 million in winning bids on 652,522 acres from 13 companies.

禁令应该已经使得英国石油公司无法竞价租赁西墨西哥湾的海上钻探区块，美国政府周三将这些区块租了出去。但英国石油公司的一名发言人说，该公司在获悉美国政府的限制令之前就已经决定不去竞标了。此次共有13家公司出资1.337亿美元竞标65.2522万英亩的勘探区块。

Analysts said BP's suspension would probably be short-lived. 'We would be surprised if this suspension lasted beyond a few weeks or months, leaving no discernible effect on BP's drilling or development pipelines,' said analysts with Wells Fargo in a research note.

分析人士说，对英国石油公司的禁令可能不会持续很久。富国银行(Wells Fargo)的分析师在一份研究报告中说，很难想象这项措施实施几个星期或几个月之后不会对英国石油公司后续的勘探或开发工作产生明显影响。

The suspension came as three men who were employed by BP at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster pleaded not guilty before a federal judge here to criminal charges stemming from the explosion that killed 11 and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Each remains free on $250,000 unsecured bonds.

与此同时英国石油公司的三名前员工对一些刑事指控罪名表示不服。“深水地平线号爆炸事故发生时，这三名员工在英国石油公司工作，因为爆炸导致11人死亡，并引发了美国历史上最严重的海上溢油事故，他们受到了刑事指控。由于每人交了25万美元的保释金，他们现在还没有被拘禁。

Donald Vidrine and Robert Kaluza, BP engineers who were on board the rig at the time of the deadly explosion, each pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one violation of the Clean Water Act. The charges are related to their alleged failure to properly interpret a key safety test on the drilling rig.

维德林(Donald Vidrine)和卡鲁扎(Robert Kaluza)在这场伤亡惨重的爆炸事故发生时在钻井平台上担任工程师，他们都对11项故意杀人罪、11项过失杀人罪和违反《净水法》的指控表示不服。检方认为，他们在钻井平台上没有对一项关键的安全测试进行正确的解读。