Marsh to provide GoM property insurance

Offshore staff

LONDON -- Marsh has created a property insurance program to provide up to $500 million of aggregate annual capacity for windstorm losses incurred by all participating oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico in a given policy year.

Marsh's Cost and Coverage Certainty Program, known as the Triple C Facility, was developed in conjunction with the Berkshire Hathaway Group. The Triple C Facility is designed to provide oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico with insurance protection on a pooled basis, with pricing stability for five years. Underwritten by members of the Berkshire Hathaway Group, the program is available exclusively through Marsh.

The Triple C Facility offers participating businesses flexible coverage design and structure, including a choice of limits of $100 million per occurrence or $50 million per occurrence, and a variety of attachment points, ranging from $20 million to $250 million per occurrence.

"The series of severe hurricanes that struck the Gulf of Mexico during the past five years have drained insurance capacity and left many energy firms with few, if any, alternatives to obtain the levels of coverage they require at stable prices," says Jim Pierce, chairman of Marsh's Global Energy Practice. "We believe that the Triple C Facility will address a serious exposure for these businesses in an acutely challenging economic cycle when the effects of a large uninsured loss might be devastating."

02/24/2009