HOUSTON, April 22 (Reuters) - The high-stakes penalty phaseof BP's trial over its role in the 2010 U.S. Gulf ofMexico oil spill will start next January, court officials saidon Tuesday, and billions of dollars could be on the line.
Fines under the Clean Water Act could top $17 billion, anamount more than BP's profit in 2013, which after items was$13.4 billion.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans hasconsiderable leeway and could assess a much smaller fine afterthe third and likely final stage of the trial, which will assessthe environmental impact of the largest offshore spill in U.S.history. The third phase will run from Jan. 20 to Feb. 5 of2015.
The trial's first phase dealt with the issue of negligenceand concluded last April. The second phase of the trial, whichended last October, focused on estimating how many millionbarrels of oil leaked from the blown out Macondo well for 87days after the accident that killed 11 workers. Findings fromthe first two phases will affect the size of the fines.
BP has set aside more than $42 billion in provisions forcleanup, compensation and fines since the spill.
Separately on Tuesday, the British major said it had agreedto sell interests in four, mature BP-operated oilfields andrelated pipelines on the North Slope of Alaska to the productioncompany Hilcorp as it works to invest in new opportunitiesthere. (Reporting By Terry Wade)