BP shares were sharply higher today after a judge in the United States ruled that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was smaller than government estimates.
District judge Carl Barbier said that 3.19 million barrels were discharged into the Gulf after the rig explosion at BP’s Macondo well, more than the 2.4 million-barrel figure BP had argued for but less than the US government’s estimate of about 4.2 million. The latter figure could have meant $18 billion (£12 billion) in maximum penalties under the Clean Water Act.
With the price of Brent crude oil also stabilising near the $49 a barrel mark, the stock surged 2% or 8.1p to 400.7p.
The FTSE 100 Index was 10.2 points lower at 6488.6 in a calmer session than yesterday, when markets were buffeted by the fall-out from the Swiss central bank’s move to end the franc’s exchange rate peg to the euro.
The pound continued to strengthen against the euro on expectations that the European Central Bank is on the brink of launching a much-anticipated round of quantitative easing.
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