Cameron International Corp. could emerge as an unlikely beneficiary in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In the first days after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and sparking the worst offshore oil spill in US history, the company came under intense scrutiny. The rig’s blowout preventer, a critical safety device that failed to shut down the well, was built by Cameron.

However, in the weeks since the disaster, investigators have focused on decisions made by BP PLC, the well’s primary owner, and Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig and the blowout preventer and was responsible for their maintenance.

Now, it appears the disaster could help generate new sales for Houston-based Cameron, which reports second quarter earnings on Wednesday. Regulators in the US and overseas are expected to require stronger, more reliable blowout preventers in the wake of the well accident. Fearing liability, oil companies are also looking to beef up their safety systems even before any new rules go into effect.

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal and Wikipedia)