Low BP

There is more trouble in store for BP apart from falling oil prices and the charges it has to settle with the US government over the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil major posted a $6.3-billion loss in the second quarter of the year after it had to pay the US another $9.8 billion as settlement for the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. BP is now fighting to cut costs as the company is expecting refining margins to shrink in the third quarter. As thousands of private claims against the company are still outstanding, there may yet be a few billions for it to pay out of pocket.