Total 'liable for Buncefield blaze'

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Mr Justice David Steel's ruling in London was that Total should pay the property damage bills of individual and business claimants - the vast majority of whom were insured.

The December 2005 explosion was the result of an overspillage of 300 tonnes of petrol from the top of one of the storage tanks at the Hertfordshire depot,

It formed a huge vapour cloud which ignited, causing widespread damage and injuring 43 people. Widely thought to be the largest ever in peacetime Europe, the explosion measured 2.4 on the Richter scale and could be heard 125 miles away.

The claims arising from the incident totalled more than £750 million, said the judge.

The action was bought against Total and a joint venture company established between Total as to 60% and Chevron with 40% called Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL) - the explosion happened in a part of the Buncefield site developed by the joint venture.

Total claimed that Chevron should share responsibility for the incident as HOSL was liable, but Chevron said Total was liable.

The case revolved on identifying whether it was Total or HOSL which had the right to control the manner in which the supervisors at the site undertook their work, and was dependent on how the site was operated and managed.

The judge found that all those working on the Buncefield site had employment contracts with Total. The most senior on-site employee was the terminal manager and any instruction to the supervisors had to be channelled through him - he had been appointed as manager by Total and retained his reporting line to the terminal operations manager at Total's head office with whom he was in regular contact.

In contrast, said the judge, although HOSL was the nominated operator of the Buncefield site in some of the agreements between Total and Chevron, it had no employees and its board met for two hours every six months primarily to receive a report from the terminal manager and to discuss budgetary matters - it was incapable of being concerned with day to day operations.