US district judge Carl Barbier’s finding that BP acted with gross negligence and wilful misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster is rooted in decisions taken on the day of the accident, April 20 2010.
The details of what happened on that day have been thoroughly rehearsed in several inquiries and in the evidence presented at the trial last year. Yet the judge’s assessment of those events, which puts the oil group on the hook for up to $18bn in penalties, still took many in the markets by surprise. BP shares closed nearly 6 per cent lower on Thursday.
The ruling focuses on the “negative pressure test”, intended to check whether the Macondo well had been safely sealed with cement so the rig could detach from it and move away.
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