US oil spill finding could cost BP $13.7bn in fines

A US judge has said more oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico following the deadly rig explosion in 2010 than BP estimated — a decision that could potentially cost the oil giant $13.7bn

District judge Carl Barbier ruled in New Orleans that 3.19m barrels were discharged into the Gulf after the rig explosion at BP’s Macondo well, one of America’s worst environmental disasters, that killed 11 workers.

The number is more than the 2.4m-barrel figure BP had argued for and less than the US government’s estimate of about 4.2m. The government figure could have meant $18bn in maximum penalties under the Clean Water Act.