Shares slide after US judge blames BP and paves way for £11bn fines
OIL GIANT BP has been described by a US judge as “grossly negligent” for its role in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, in a ruling that could add $18bn (£11bn) in fines to the more than $42bn in charges taken so far for the worst offshore disaster in US history.
BP’s shares closed down nearly six per cent in London, the worst one day slide in more than four years.
“The Court concludes that the discharge of oil ‘was the result of gross negligence or wilful misconduct’ by BP,” said US district Judge Carl Barbier.
Barbier in New Orleans began a trial without a jury last year to determine who was responsible for the April 2010 environmental disaster.
Barbier yesterday ruled that BP was mostly at fault and that two other companies in the case, Transocean and Halliburton, were not as much to blame.
BP’s fines from the case could run to $17.6bn in the costliest scenario under a gross negligence finding.
The amount is far more than the $4.5bn maximum fine that could have been levied under a simple negligence ruling.
BP said it would appeal the ruling.
“The law is clear that proving gross negligence is a very high bar that was not met in this case,” said BP in a statement.
“BP believes that an impartial view of the record does not support the erroneous conclusion reached by the District Court,” added BP.
The Deepwater Horizon disaster that saw millions of barrels of oil spilt in the Gulf of Mexico led to the departure of the then-chief executive, Tony Hayward, and his replacement by Bob Dudley.