Former BP boss Tony Hayward has reportedly been accused of lying in evidence to the US Congress after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Documents lodged at a court in New Orleans by lawyers suing BP and other companies for damages are understood to contain the lying allegations.
Mr Hayward, who was forced to quit as BP’s chief executive following outrage about the catastrophe and a string of public gaffes, stands accused of lying over the scope of BP’s own investigation into the incident, reports said yesterday.
He was also said to have already admitted lying about a personal e-mail account.
BP’s lawyers have argued that Mr Hayward answered questions posed in bad faith, sarcasm, “self-serving speeches” and personal attacks when he appeared before Congressmen in June 2010.
He has declined to comment on the continuing legal proceedings, for which a trial is due to start on February 27.
The US Government and more than 120,000 individuals and businesses are claiming damages for losses they say they suffered as a result of the April 2010 rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, in which 11 workers were killed and millions of gallons of oil were spilled into the sea.