BP finally ‘draws a line’ under Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster… taking total bill to nearly £50bn

BP has finally “drawn a line” under the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion with a final hit of $5.2billion (£4billion) – taking its total bill to nearly £50billion.

The Gulf of Mexico disaster in April 2010 killed 11 workers and created the worst environmental disaster ever in the US.

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It has had to pay out billions in compensation, fines and clean-up costs since then.

But the FTSE 100 company said yesterday it “can now reliably estimate all remaining material liabilities in connection with the incident”.

Yesterday’s final sum related to the explosion leaves it with a total bill of $61.6billion (£47billion).

It revealed the final figure, as it reported its profits in April to June fell 44 per cent to $720 million (£549 million).

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The plunge - plus tumbling oil prices - put further pressure on boss Bob Dudley, whose £14million pay packet last year triggered a shareholder revolt in the spring.

The price of Brent Crude - the international benchmark for oil - yesterday fell to a three month low, leaving it worth $44.53 a barrel.

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Despite this Mr Dudley said yesterday: “We are delivering significant improvements to the business that will stick at any oil price.

“We are now well down the path of transforming our business to compete, whatever the future holds.

“We now see a much stronger outlook for BP and are focused on growth, both for this decade and beyond.”

Mr Dudley took over from Tony Hayward, in charge at the time of the 2010 disaster, who famously said in its aftermath: “I want my life back”.

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BP’s share price is still 33 per cent down on its pre-explosion level of around 650p.

Last night it closed at 431.1p, down around 2 per cent for the day.

Richard Hunter, head of research at WILSON KING INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, said: “The sigh of relief emanating from BP HQ is almost palpable as the Gulf of Mexico spill is finally consigned to the history books.

“This is not to say that the challenges are over, not least of which is an underlying oil price still markedly short of the level which would provide comfort for the company.

“These two major factors have weighed heavily on refining margins, revenues and profits, whilst BP’s outlook for the third quarter (of the year) is also guarded.”