Hannover Re Sees Large Claim from Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig

Hannover Re AG, one of the world's five largest reinsurers, Friday said it expects a "large claim" from the off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that caught fire on Tuesday, April 20 and sunk Thursday, the 22nd.

Source: Source: Dow Jones | Published on April 26, 2010

"A precise estimate isn't possible yet," said a Hannover Re spokeswoman. Hannover Re considers a large claim as one that costs the company at least EUR5 million.

The rig, named the Deepwater Horizon, was built in 2001 and would cost more than $600 million to replace, analysts estimate.

The rig was owned and operated by Transocean Ltd. of Zug, Switzerland, and contracted to U.K. oil major BP PLC.

A spokeswoman for Munich Re AG, one of the largest reinsurers worldwide, said it was too early to give an estimate of the claims it expects, but said it is one of the reinsurers of the platform.