BP oil spill 2010 Timeline

N">BP Plc had been found "grossly negligent" on Thursday by a federal judge relating to its part inside 2010 gulf oil spill. Your choice by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, just who oversees litigation related to the catastrophe, will probably raise the Uk oil business's costs rising from biggest offshore spill in U.S. history.

* April 20, 2010 RIG EXPLODES: an explosion regarding Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Macondo research well eliminates 11 workers and releases scores of barrels of crude oil in to the gulf. The fine is capped in mid-July. BP ultimately sets aside $42 billion to fund cleaning costs, problems and charges.

* November 2012 CRIMINAL CASE SETTLED: BP agrees to pay for $4.5 billion in fines along with other penalties and pleads bad to 14 unlawful charges. The U.S. government bans BP from new national contracts, imperiling the business's role as a top U.S. offshore oil producer and #1 military fuel provider. Separately, the U.S. division of Justice files unlawful fees against three BP workers associated with the accident.

* December 2012 CLASS ACTION SETTLED: Barbier gives final approval to BP's settlement with individuals and businesses claiming to have lost money and property because of the spill. BP initially estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to settle more than 100, 000 claims, but the dollar amount is not capped. The company later says the payout may grow substantially, in part because of payouts to many claimants who suffered no harm, and files numerous legal challenges to the agreement.

* February 2013 CIVIL TRIAL BEGINS: Officials from government and several U.S. states start facing BP in judge at a three-phase civil trial over exactly how fault should really be apportioned between BP, Transocean Ltd, which had the drilling rig, and Halliburton Co, which performed cement work. Government attorneys encourage Barbier discover BP grossly negligent, which may about quadruple the total amount of fines beneath the U.S. Clean Water Act.

* Sept. 30, 2013 2ND STATE OF TEST BEGINS: the next phase begins to figure out how much oil had been spilled.

* Sept. 4, 2014 JUDGE DISCOVERS BP BEARS ALMOST ALL OF THE BLAME: Barbier finds BP "grossly negligent" for its part in the oil spill. He assigns 67 percent for the fault towards BP, 30 percent to Transocean and 3 % to Halliburton. BP pledges to appeal.

* January 2015 FOLLOWING STAGE OF TEST SCHEDULED TO BEGIN: Barbier is scheduled to determine how much oil ended up being spilled. The quantity would be familiar with calculate problems.