Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Businessweek

BP's Big Payouts Amid Other Oil Spill Liability

The kind of money BP could be on the hook for
Offshore oil platforms under construction in Port Fourchon, La., in 2010
Offshore oil platforms under construction in Port Fourchon, La., in 2010Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
By
Paul M. Barrett

2010
April 16
A BP manager overrules an engineer’s decision to use 21 centralizers to secure a drill pipe in the Macondo well; only six are installed.

April 20
BP decides not to run a test that would determine whether cement has properly sealed the well against leaks. That evening, the well erupts. Eleven men die as the Deepwater Horizon rig explodes and catches fire.