Rising bill: BP takes another £1.2bn hit from Deepwater Horizon disaster

Oil major BP has said it will book a further $1.7 billion (£1.2bn) charge from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 as part of the settlement for the disaster. But the group said that despite the fourth-quarter hit, the lengthy settlement process for the mammoth claims related to the spill is now winding down. BP said cash payments related to the blast in the Gulf of Mexico are now expected to be around $3bn in 2018, rather than its previous estimate of just over $2bn.