BP has tough week in court

摘要

BP has faced a tough time in the first week of a US civil trial over the Macondo disaster. The firm faces a potential $17.5bn payout for Clean Water Act violations and possibly billions more related to the April 2010 Macondo well blowout in the US Gulf of Mexico. The disaster killed 11 workers and caused the largest US offshore oil spill. BP's defence team introduced a trial exhibit related to the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion in which 15 people died, even though the company had won a pre-trial victory to exclude reference to this other accident. When plaintiffs' counsel seized on the same exhibit, BP protested but US federal judge Carl Bar- bier overruled the firm's objection.