Evidence blocked at BP Deepwater trial

BP (BP.) has won a court order to prevent the inclusion of several potentially damaging e-mails, relating to previous accidents, in the forthcoming trial to determine responsibility for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A report from Reuters said the latest decision is the oil company's second victory in as many days to bar evidence from the New Orleans court.

The latest, by district judge Carl Barbier, follows a ruling on Wednesday by magistrate judge Sally Shushan to allow the company to withhold a number of e-mails questioning some of its activities before and after the spill.

Barbier's decision blocks the introduction of evidence related to two accidents involving BP facilities.

The first was a 2005 explosion at a Texas City refinery that killed 15 people. BP pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and accepted a $50 million fine. It also had to pay a record $87 million to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for safety problems at the site.

The second case was the 2006 rupture of a corroded pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. BP pleaded guilty to a criminal Clean Water Act violation and was fined $20 million.

However, Barbier ruled that neither of the prior incidents were sufficiently similar to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and blow-out of the Macondo oil well.

"The prior incidents were all land-based, while the Macondo incident occurred in the Gulf of Mexico," he wrote. "Additionally, the circumstances of oil refinery disasters and [an] exploratory drilling disaster are vastly different."

Reuters said there was no immediate response from James Roy, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs in the current case.

BP has set aside around $42 billion for spill costs. The company's chief executive Bob Dudley this week said BP is preparing for trial but willing to settle on reasonable terms.

The corporate defendants in the current case include BP, Transocean (RIG), Halliburton (HAL) and Anadarko Petroleum (APC).

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