Shares rally after experts say BP is off the hook over oil spill

Explosion: the US report blamed all the firms involved in the disaster

11 April 2012

Shares in BP rose 10.75p, more than 2%, to 510p today after analysts examining the report into the Gulf of Mexico disaster said the oil giant would not be blamed for gross negligence.

The official US inquiry said: "Most of the mistakes and oversights at Macondo [the explosion site] can be traced back to a single overarching failure — a failure of management."

But the White House oil spill commission's report blamed BP's US partners, Halliburton and Transocean, alongside the British firm.

It said: "Many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money)."

Analysts said the report, which highlighted a "pervasive problem of a complacent industry", would help BP avoid being sued for gross negligence as it did not pin the blame for the spill on BP alone.

As a result, the financial impact would be $25 billion-$30 billion, not the $45 billion-$50 billion that had been feared, said Richard Griffith, analyst at Evolution Securities.

He added: "The reportsupports our view that a gross negligence case against BP looks hard to prove."