BP temporarily banned from U.S. government contract

US bans BP from new government contracts after oil spill deal.

A British oil firm, BP, has been temporarily suspended from new contracts with the U.S. government, over its handling of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, said on Wednesday.

EPA suspended BP due to the company’s “lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company’s conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response,” the organization said in a statement.

The ban follows BP’s record fine earlier this month over the 2010 oil spill.

EPA said BP agreed to plead guilty to eleven counts of Misconduct or Neglect of Ship Officers, one count of Obstruction of Congress, one misdemeanor count of a violation of the Clean Water Act, and one misdemeanor count of a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, all arising from its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

“The BP suspension will temporarily prevent the company and the named affiliates from getting new federal government contracts, grants or other covered transactions until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets Federal business standards,” an EPA statement said.

BP said it had spent $14bn on its response to the spill.

The suspension does not affect existing agreements BP may have with the U.S. government, EPA added.