said today it expects the cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster to be $7.7bn (£4.8bn) bigger than previously thought, pushing the total bill to nearly $40bn.
The oil giant announced the new charge to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico spill alongside its financial results for the third quarter of the year. It blamed the delays that dogged its attempts to seal the leak, along with higher clean-up costs and legal fees.
The new charge knocked BP's pre-tax profits for the third quarter of 2010 down to $1.8bn, down from $4.98bn a year ago.
In late July BP set aside $32.2bn to cover the cost of the clean-up, more than the City had expected, a move which pushed the company into a record loss of $17bn for the second quarter of 2010. At that time, though, the Macondo well was still leaking oil into the ocean, and was only finally shut off in mid-September.
The final cost of one of the worst environmental disasters ever could climb further. BP said that the total charge of $39.9bn was its "current best estimate of those costs that can be reliably measured at this time".
When the cost of the oil spill were excluded, BP's operating profits for the quarter were 18% higher than a year ago at $5.5bn. Chief executive Bob Dudley, in his first results announcement since taking over from Tony Hayward, said they showed BP was "on track" to recover from the disaster.
"This strong operating performance shows the determination of everyone at BP to move the company forward and rebuild confidence after the terrible events of the past six months," Dudley said.
BP also said that it would reconsider its current dividend freeze in February 2011.
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