BP to pay record $4.5 billion fine for Deepwater Horizon disaster

Posted on November 16, 2012

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One reflection is that BP is a giant oil company and can absorb these expenses. How can a small company perform these kinds of operations? Before anyone starts to drill in the Artic we should require that they can also pay for a clean-up.

This article is from PennEnergy.

The illustration is from the book “Peeking at Peak Oil“.

November 15, 2012

By Hilton Price, Content Editor

BP has been levied a $4.5 billion fine from the Justice Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The criminal fine is the largest on record, dwarfing the previous record of $1.3 billion levied against Pfizer in 2009.

The settlement includes payments to numerous government organizations. $2.4 billion will be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of the Sciences, and more than $500 million goes to the Securities & Exchange Commission. The settlement does not cover civil claims or state claims. A civil trial is scheduled to take place in New Orleans in February 2013.

The Thursday morning announcement that the fine would set records was reflected in shares of BP stock, which fell .9 percent in early trading. BP saw a loss in profits after the spill, but has rebounded in subsequent quarters.

There is still word that 2 BP employees will face manslaughter charges for the deaths from the explosion that started the disaster. Currently, the Justice Department has only levied charges against one BP employee, engineer Kurt Mix.

The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster saw more than 4 million barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico over nearly 3 months. It is the largest oil spill in the industry’s history. 11 workers were killed in the accident.

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