BP oil spill fine ruling may be imminent

OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2015. A key ruling on Clean Water Act (CWA) fines that BP must pay to resolve damages caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be imminent after a judge canceled a hearing.

In a filing in the US District Court in New Orleans today, judge Carl Barbier canceled a previously scheduled 18 June status conference for ongoing oil spill-related lawsuits.

"The Court will reschedule the status conference following issuance of the Findings of Fact and

Conclusions of Law for the Penalty Phase Trial," Barbier in the filing, referring to final part of the multi-year trial where BP, the government and other parties argued over the factors to consider when determining the size of the CWA fines.

Based on previous court rulings, BP faces a maximum of \\$13.7bn in CWA fines for the spill, which started in April 2010 following a deadly blowout on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. BP argues the fine should be closer to \\$2.7bn and that any fine larger than the \\$2.3bn it has set aside could threaten the financial health of its US business.

Anadarko Petroleum, which has a 25pc stake in the well, could face up to \\$3.5bn in CWA fines.

Barbier is expected to find for a less-than-maximum penalty because, as the company has argued in court, its spill cleanup efforts and willingness to pay billions in compensation to Gulf residents and businesses even before the oil stopped flowing were significant.

Analysts with Susquehanna Financial estimate the court will fine BP about \\$5.5bn and Anadarko about \\$750mn.