BP moves to limit Gulf spill liability BP has moved to cut by up to $3.5bn the civil penalties it faces over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, filing a motion arguing it should not have to pay for oil that escaped from the Macondo well but was captured before spilling into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In a filing at the court in New Orleans that has been hearing the civil case over the spill, BP said it was seeking a legal ruling that at least 810,000 barrels of oil had been captured by the various improvised methods used during the spill, such as the "top hat" dome placed over the leaking well. Penalties under the Clean Water Act can reach a maximum of $4,300 per barrel spilt if the polluter is found to have acted with gross negligence, something that BP has denied in the case of the Deepwater Horizon. However, Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, said last November that the US intended "to prove that BP was grossly negligent in causing the oil spill." Based on the US government's estimate that 4.9m barrels of oil escaped from the well, that implied a maximum Clean Water Act penalty of $21bn. Damages intended to restore harm done to the Gulf coastline could add many billions more to BP's total bill. In its court filing, the company asked for a summary judgment against the US authorities to establish that the 810,000 barrels of collected oil could not be liable for Clean Water Act penalties, which would reduce the maximum to $17.6bn. BP argued that it should not "be penalised for not only trying to do the right thing, but successfully doing the right thing and keeping oil out of the marine environment." The civil penalties and damages facing BP are the largest remaining legal issue arising from the accident. BP has settled the criminal cases against it for $4.5bn, and the civil claims from fishermen and others who suffered economic losses for an estimated $7.8bn. On Friday, the New Orleans court announced approval of a separate settlement for medical claims resulting from the spill. Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, last week announced an agreement to pay $1.4bn to settle all federal civil and criminal claims against it. A trial in the case, including other actions such as private sector claims against Transocean and other companies working on the project, has been set for February 25.