BP caps horror week with credit rating cut

BP pressed on with its bid to cap the Gulf of Mexico spill yesterday amid a new blow to its tattered image as a credit agency warned the clean-up costs will weigh on the oil giant for years.

A day after BP chief executive Tony Hayward was given a public mauling by US lawmakers, a top credit agency slashed the credit worthiness of the British energy giant because of the “worsening impact” of the disaster on its finances.

Moody’s Investors Service cut BP’s credit rating by three notches following a similar move by Fitch and Standard & Poor’s this week.