LONDON — Oil and gas giant BP’s profit fell nearly 80 percent in the fourth quarter in results released Tuesday, dragged down by payouts related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP said that net profit fell to $1.62 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $7.69 billion in the same period the year before.
Poor BP!
BP took a loss of $3.85 billion for its settlement of all federal criminal charges with the US government....
That's all they got?
The company’s settlement with the US Justice Department shut the book on the criminal probe of BP’s role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill, but civil claims remain....
Looks like they got kinda lucky to me.
Nevertheless, the results surpassed analysts’ predictions, and BP said that its downstream activities earned a record amount for the year.
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Related:
"BP mostly to blame for spill, US says; Trial opens in 2010 disaster" by Michael Kunzelman | Associated Press, February 26, 2013
NEW ORLEANS — BP bears most of the blame for the disastrous 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico because it cut corners and put profit ahead of safety, a Justice Department attorney said Monday at the opening of a high-stakes trial that could result in the oil company and its partners being forced to pay billions more in damages....
The catastrophe resulted from BP’s ‘‘culture of corporate recklessness,’’ Justice Department attorney Mike Underhill said. ‘‘The evidence will show that BP put profits before people, profits before safety, and profits before the environment.’’
So what did they do wrong?
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BP has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other criminal charges and has racked up more than $24 billion in spill-related expenses, including compensation for businesses and individuals, cleanup costs, and $4 billion in criminal penalties. But the government, Gulf Coast states, and individuals and businesses hope to convince a judge the company and its partners are liable for much more in civil damages.
US District Judge Carl Barbier is hearing the case without a jury and — barring a settlement — will decide months from now how much more BP and the others must pay....
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Related: "BP moves to block spill payouts to businesses; Last week, BP warned investors that the settlement’s price tag will be ‘‘significantly higher’’ than initially estimated."
"Judge refuses to block BP settlement payouts" by Michael Kunzelman | Associated Press, April 06, 2013
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge on Friday rejected BP’s request to block what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts to businesses that say the company’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cost them money....
Private plaintiffs’ attorneys who brokered last year’s deal with BP say the London-based oil giant’s allegations are baseless and self-serving.
Steve Herman, one of the lead plaintiffs’ attorneys on the case, said BP’s request was merely a legal gambit designed to clear another path for an appeals court to review the matter....
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Related:
"A high-ranking BP executive testified Tuesday that the London-based oil giant and its contractors share the responsibility for preventing blowouts like the one that killed 11 workers and spawned the nation’s worst offshore oil spill in 2010."
Also see:
Time to dismiss this post.
Related: Tight-Lipped on Louisiana
