Fifth Circuit Enforces Mutual Waiver of Consequential Damages in Offshore Drilling Contract Despite Gross Negligence Claims

The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment dismissing Cantium's $27.3 million counterclaim for consequential damages arising from a lost offshore well near Louisiana, holding that the parties' mutual waiver in Section 15.21 of their Master Offshore Drilling Services Contract barred recovery for spread costs and well loss even where gross negligence or willful misconduct was alleged. The panel declined to reach the unsettled maritime law question of whether contractual indemnification for gross negligence violates public policy, finding the contract's plain language—designating redrilling as Cantium's "sole and exclusive remedy"—unambiguously foreclosed additional damages.