Nation : Relatives of Victims of North Sea Oil Rig Blast Offered $187 Million

Relatives of the 167 victims of July’s oil rig explosion in the North Sea have been offered a total of $187 million in compensation payments, the rig’s owner, Occidental Petroleum Corp., disclosed today.

Armand Hammer, chairman and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles-based oil company, revealed the offers in a meeting with securities analysts in New York, saying he believes that most of the families will accept them. Occidental’s oil platform Piper Alpha off Aberdeen, Scotland, exploded and burned July 6. The platform was destroyed and 167 men were killed. Most of the company’s cost will be covered by insurance, Hammer said.