FEBRUARY 20, 2015
A US judge has rejected BP's bid to reduce the maximum civil penalty of $13.7bn it could face for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
US District Judge Carl Barbier agreed with the federal government claim that BP has to pay a fine of $4,300 per barrel, rejecting the company's appeal to pay $3,000 per barrel as per the country's Clean Water Act.
BP spokesman Geoff Morrell was quoted by Reuters as saying that the company disagrees with the decision and is considering legal options.
BP has already paid more than $28bn in damages and costs associated to the oil spill, which killed 11 people and spread oil across seafood grounds and coastal beaches.
The company contracted Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to develop Macondo well, located in the Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier this month, the Texas Supreme Court rejected BP's claim for $750m worth of coverage under Transocean's insurance policies to help pay the damages related with the oil spill.
The British oil and gas firm paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the identified victims of the spill through multiple businesses between August 2012 and October 2013.
The well discharged millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, before eventually being capped in July 2010 and permanently sealed in the following September.