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U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier in New
Orleans, Louisiana, is scheduled to receive post-trial briefs
from government prosecutors and BP through April 24.
Barbier might rule before then although a decision after all
briefs are filed is more likely, the lawyers said.
In arguments that wrapped up on Monday, BP tried to whittle away
at $13.7 billion in potential fines if faces under the Clean
Water Act for the worst offshore disaster in U.S. history.
BP has said its fine should be modest as it took extensive steps
to mitigate the disaster and that the defendant named in the
case, BP's exploration and production unit, known as BPXP,
cannot afford a big penalty.
BP also said a drop of more than 50 percent in oil prices since
June has slashed BPXP's value.
The government urged a fine at or near the maximum.
Clean Water Act rules say when assigning penalties the court
must look at BP’s ability to pay, steps it took to clean up the
spill, and its history of past violations, among other factors.
The Clean Water Act penalties would come on top of more than $42
billion the oil major has set aside for cleanup, compensation
and fines. About 810,000 barrels were collected during cleanup.
Several billion dollars in potential fines were avoided in
January when Barbier put the size of the spill at 3.19 million
barrels. That was well below the government's estimate of 4.09
million barrels, which could have led to $17.6 billion in fines.
All three phases of the trial, over the degree of negligence,
the size of the spill, and the size of the fine, have now
concluded.
Under a "gross negligence" ruling Barbier issued in September,
BP could be fined a statutory limit of $4,300 for each barrel
spilled, though he has authority to set lower penalties.
BP has also filed motions saying the maximum fine per barrel is
in fact just $3,000 because Congress never passed laws to adjust
it for inflation.
A simple "negligence" ruling, which BP sought, caps the maximum
fine at $1,100 per barrel.
(Reporting By Terry Wade; Editing by Grant McCool)
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