BP fine could be $13.7 billion

The federal judge hearing the case against oil giant BP determined Thursday that the total of oil dumped into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster was 3.19 million barrels, or nearly 100 million gallons.

The estimate by Judge Carl Barbier was short of the 4.2 million barrels federal prosecutors sought and greater than BP’s claim of 2.45 million barrels. The fine, figured at a rate of anywhere from roughly $1,000 to more than $4,000 per barrel, has yet to be determined.

But BP confirms that the cost – if determined at the maximum allowable amount – could reach $13.7 billion.

The determination of the amount spilled and on the efforts BP made to thwart it constitute the second phase of the trial associated with the disaster, which claimed 11 lives after a blowout of the Macondo well about 60 miles off the Louisiana coast in Gulf of Mexico waters.

Barbier did not find that BP’s response to the disaster was grossly negligent.

The spill devastated fisheries, fouled beaches and marshes and is considered the largest accidental marine ecological disaster in U.S. history.

During the first phase Barbier found BP grossly negligent in connection with the operation of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

The third phase of the Clean Water Act trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 20 and will address the question of how much of a penalty will be assessed.

During those proceedings Barbier will consider eight factors.

They include an assessment of BP’s efforts to mitigate or minimize the spill’s effects; the gravity of violations involved; the nature, extent and degree of success of any efforts to minimize or mitigate the effects of the spill; the economic impact on BP itself and the economic benefit to BP resulting from the violation. BP’s culpability, any prior incidents and penalties already paid for the same incident must also be considered.

“BP believes that considering all the statutory penalty factors together weighs in favor of a penalty at the lower end of the statutory range,” said Geoff Morrell, BP America’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Communications and External Affairs.

The company, Morrell said, is continuing to study the court’s decision.