BP Says Spill's Cost Up to $39.9 Billion
The company on Tuesday reported a $1.8 billion profit for its third quarter and confirmed it has signed agreements to sell units for $14 billion and has about $13 billion of cash on hand.
The total cost to BP of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and cleanup has reached $39.9 billion, the company announced Tuesday. That number was reached by adding a $7.7 billion pre-tax charge in the third quarter after a $32.2 billion charge in the second quarter. BP said the $7.7 billion "reflected a delay in completing the relief well that finally sealed the Macondo well in September, additional mandated costs for decontaminating and demobilising vessels involved in the response, claims centre administration costs and additional legal costs."
The company on Tuesday reported a $1.8 billion profit for its third quarter (after spill costs resulted in a $17 billion loss for the second quarter) and confirmed it has signed agreements to sell units for $14 billion and has about $13 billion of cash on hand.
"These results demonstrate that BP is well on track for recovery after the tragic accident on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and subsequent oil spill," said group Chief Executive Bob Dudley, who replaced former chief Tony Hayward after the spill. "We have made good progress during the quarter. This strong operating performance shows the determination of everyone at BP to move the company forward and rebuild confidence after the terrible events of the past six months. We have also begun to make important changes in the way we operate across the group, including creating a powerful Safety and Operational Risk function and restructuring the upstream segment, to ensure that safety and risk management are embedded as the absolute priority for every operation, for every person, throughout BP."