National Oilwell Varco Found Partly Responsible for OK Rig Explosion

NOV is the former owner of oilfield products distributor DistributionNOW — No. 9 on ID's Big 50 List.

In this Jan. 22, 2018, file photo from video by Tulsa's KOTV/NewsOn6.com, fires burn at an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig near Quinton, OK. A Pittsburg County, OK jury has found National Oilwell Varco, a Houston-based company partially responsible for the 2018 explosion and fire that killed five men. The jury ordered the company to pay $1 million each to the estates of two of the victims.
In this Jan. 22, 2018, file photo from video by Tulsa's KOTV/NewsOn6.com, fires burn at an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig near Quinton, OK. A Pittsburg County, OK jury has found National Oilwell Varco, a Houston-based company partially responsible for the 2018 explosion and fire that killed five men. The jury ordered the company to pay $1 million each to the estates of two of the victims.
Christina Goodvoice/KOTV/NewsOn6.com via AP, File

McALESTER, OK (AP) — An Oklahoma jury has found a Houston-based company 10 percent responsible for a January 2018 explosion and fire that killed five men.

The Pittsburg County jury on Monday ordered National Oilwell Varco to pay $1 million each to the estates of Josh Ray of Fort Worth, TX, and Cody Risk of Wellington, CO.

The families of all victims that included Oklahomans Parker Waldridge of Crescent, Matt Smith of McAlester and Roger Cunningham of Seminole previously reached settlements with other companies involved in the rig at Quinton. Those were Red Mountain Operating; Red Mountain Energy LLC; Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC; and Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.

NOV argued that the other companies and Ray shared the blame.

“From our clients’ standpoint, it wasn’t about the money. It was about taking the case to the jury and allowing it to apportion responsibility,” Jeff Wigington, an attorney for Ray's family told The Oklahoman.

“And it was very important for the Ray family to clear the name of Josh Ray, because they (National Oilwell Varco) was blaming him for the death of his friends.”

“The jury has spoken,” NOV’s attorney John Zavitsanos told the McAlester News-Capital. “We very much respect their time.

"Our heart goes out to both these families and I wish neither side was here and I wish this had never happened.”

The Jan. 22, 2018, explosion, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa, was the deadliest drilling accident since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing 11 people.

ID Note: National Oilwell Varco is the former owner of oilfield products distributor NOW Inc., which does business as DistributionNOW — No. 9 on Industrial Distribution's 2019 Big 50 List.

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