An oil rig owned by Mariner Energy, Inc. exploded this morning, just west of where the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20.

Although Mariner and its employees have not been very politically active during the past two decades, the company is party to a pending merger with a subsidiary of Apache Corp., a notably political company. The merger would combine the two powerful independent oil and gas exploration companies. And the merger will reportedly cost Apache $2.7 billion.

So far during the 2010 election cycle, Apache’s political action committee has donated $20,000 to political candidates and entities, but has raised more than double that amount, makring a fund-raising record for the company PAC.

Apache’s lobbying has also exponentially increased during the past decade, the Center for Responsive Politics finds. The company’s expenditures go from $120,000 in 2000, down to zero from 2004 to 2007, and all the way up to an all-time high of $710,000 in 2010 (and that’s just during the first half of this year). It was among those companies lobbying on the major legislative response to the BP oil spill, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported.

Furthermore, 18 members of Congress reported financial interests in Apache during 2008, the most recent year for which data are available and processed by the Center.

Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), the only member of Congress who reported holding Mariner stock in 2008, reported selling it off in June 2009 at a value of between $1,000 and $15,000, according to a Center review of his 2009 personal financial report filed last month. Hours after the explosion, stock prices for both companies fell.

Mariner has also had ties to big political players in the past.

The company was previously owned by an affiliate of Enron — the corporate giant that imploded several years ago after a massive accounting fraud. While a subsidiary of Enron, Mariner spent $120,000 on federal lobbying in 2001 and $40,000 on lobbying in 2002.

Mariner has also been owned by the Carlyle Group, a global asset manager that has in past year been advised by former presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Carlyle Group acquired it in March 2004 and sold it in 2005. That company has also actively invested in lobbying and federal candidates over the years.

The Vermilion 380, Mariner’s oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, is different from the Deepwater Horizon in that it is an anchored — rather than floating — platform. It is located in more shallow water, as well. And it is only siphoning oil that has already been drilled, rather than actively drilling it.

At first, reports suggested that the latter meant that oil would not be able to leak out; however, more recent Coast Guard announcements have stated that a mile-long oil sheen has been spotted.

Center for Responsive Politics researcher Dan Auble and money-in-politics reporter Michael Beckel contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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