"Investors Ask Oil, Insurance Groups to Disclose Safety Plans"

"NEW YORK -- A coalition of mostly institutional investors is demanding oil and gas companies disclose their existing safeguards and plans of action in the event of another offshore rig disaster and possible oil spill like the one experienced by BP PLC and other companies in the Gulf of Mexico.

Led by Ceres, a Boston-based nonprofit committed to promoting investor activism in environmental and social issues, more than 50 U.S. and global investors sent letters to major offshore oil and gas producers. The letters request, among other things, that companies disclose their investments in spill prevention technologies, their contingency plans in the event of a deepwater well blowout and their risk exposure to possible new regulations on deepwater drilling activities.

Insurance companies that back policies for the oil and gas industry also received letters from the group. Those letters ask insurers to disclose whether they are considering adjusting their relative exposure to the industry or are changing underwriting rules in the wake of the disaster."

Nathanial Gronewold reports for Greenwire August 5, 2010.