BP Oil Spill Trial Delayed Until February

A federal judge has delayed until February 2013 the start of a massive trial to determine liability from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, citing tourist events that will keep New Orleans’ hotels booked.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who is presiding over a massive three-part hearing to decide liability for BP Plc.’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, said the trial will begin on Feb. 25, 2013. That trial, which had been delayed by nearly a year already due to a pending $7.8 billion settlement with private plaintiffs, had been set to get underway on Jan. 14.

Barbier cited lodging difficulties arising from two huge events to be hosted in New Orleans — the NFL’s Super Bowl on Feb. 3, and the Mardi Gras festival set for Feb. 12.

Barbier declined to delay a hearing set for Nov. 8 on a settlement BP reached with private plaintiffs for about $7.8 billion.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 rig workers and spilled about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.