BP's $4.5 billion settlement of federal criminal charges in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the US coast in 2010 is a record amount, and a significant sum of money.

BP Plc will pay $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 workers and caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill ever.

The state of Louisiana has asked a federal judge to declare a jury trial to decide on its claim for more than $1 billion from BP Plc to compensate the state for economic losses resulting from the 2

Euphoria Fades Over India’s ‘Gulf Of Mexico’ As Output Falls At RIL’s Finds | ONGC, GSPC Yet To Begin Production

Houston BP and Transocean lacked clear guidelines for key tests to ensure that the ill-fated Macondo well was safely sealed before it ruptured and triggered the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, US safety investigators said.

The preliminary report from the US Chemical Safety Board, to be delivered at a public hearing in Houston on Tuesday, puts the spotlight back on missteps highlighted in prior investigations as BP faces potential civil and even criminal penalties over the incident.

U.S.

Scientists are trying to find out why 119 bottlenose dolphins became stranded and died along the Texas coast in recent months, looking at possibilities ranging from algae blooms to oil pollution.

Colorado State University researchers on Friday raised their forecast for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season to 13 tropical storms, with five hurricanes and two major hurricanes.