BP announces $4.2bn loss as oil prices continue to fall

Oil giant BP swung to a US$4.2bn loss in the first six months of the year after taking another €9.8bn hit from its Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil prices continued to plunge.

The group tumbled into the red after the additional charge for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico explosion and devastating oil spill left it nursing hefty losses in the second quarter of $6.3bn.