U.S. bans BP from new government contracts after oil spill deal

The U.S. government today banned BP temporarily from new federal contracts over its “lack of business integrity” regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, a move that the British company has said could force it to rethink its entire U.S. operations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the suspension is “standard practice” following criminal actions. On Nov. 16, BP agreed to plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, and to pay record penalties of $4.5 billion. From its London headquarters, BP had no immediate comment on the suspension. BP and its affiliates are barred from new federal contracts until they demonstrate they can meet federal business standards, the EPA says. BP’s existing U.S. government contracts are not affected. The EPA statement does not specify the length of the suspension. The Associated Press has the full story here. Meanwhile, in a separate decision today regarding the BP oil spill, a federal appeals court ruled the Obama administration did not violate an order by a judge who struck down the government’s temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling following the spill. More details on that ruling can be found here. Also, three BP employees appeared in court in New Orleans for the first time today on charges their negligence led to the explosion and oil spill. That story is available here.