BP tumbles after company found 'grossly negligent' over US disaster

Shares in BP slumped late on Thursday after the group was found by a US judge to be "grossly negligent" and "reckless" in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago.

Shares in BP fell a further 0.8% this morning, having closed down 5.6% yesterday, after U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier delivered a ruling against the oil giant which opens it up to further fines. No fine was mentioned because the ruling did not provide specifics on how many barrels of oil BP actually spilt during the disaster, but estimates in the market are that the ruling could cost the company an extra $18bn (£11bn) in fines, on top of the $42bn it has already paid out. Barbier ruled BP was mostly at fault and that two other companies in the case, Transocean and Halliburton, were...