A U.S. District Judge announced Thursday that BP (BP) acted with gross negligence during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. As a result, the company will likely pay billions more.
Carl Barbier, the judge, held a trial without a jury to determine the company most responsible for the spill which claimed the lives of 11 workers. Along with BP, Transocean (RIG) and Halliburton (HAL) were examined in the case.
“BP’s conduct was reckless,” according to Barbier in his decision on Thursday. “Transocean’s conduct was negligent. Halliburton’s conduct was negligent.”
Barbier found that BP was at fault for 67% of the spill, 30% for Transocean and 3% for Halliburton, according to Bloomberg.
The energy company could now be fined over $18 billion more, according to Bloomberg. The company stated in July that it was taking a $43 billion charge to cover future penalties.
On Tuesday, Halliburton announced that it’d pay $1.1 billion to settle lawsuits related to the spill after its Macondo well exploded, spewing the oil into the ocean. Halliburton was accused for faulty cement work on the well which BP owned.
BP shares were down as much as 4.7% on Thursday morning after the ruling, while shares of Transocean and Halliburton climbed.
