Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company, had about $20 million worth of diesel fuel stolen over the past nine to 10 months from a distribution center in Seattle with a fake meter, according to a police report.

BP reported the fuel had been “systematically stolen,” according to a Seattle police report that listed the value of lost fuel at $20 million.

A spokesman for BP, Bill Kidd, said the fuel stolen was worth closer to $1.2 million. “I don’t know why we have a discrepancy,” he said.

Asked whether BP was insured for the loss, Kidd said, “We are self-insured for the most part. I think it’s mostly a BP West Coast products issue.” Less than 1 percent of the terminal’s throughput was stolen, Kidd said.

The phony meter was activated by starting and then stopping the loading process, according to the report. “Truck drivers not aware of that procedure would load diesel as usual, and the load would be accounted for,” the report said.

A similar “pattern of losses of fuel” was identified at another fuel terminal in Long Beach, California, according to the report.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reported earlier the terminal was owned by BP.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Clark in New York at aclark27@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 12, 2009 18:29 EST