Sept 4 (Reuters) - BP Plc was found "grosslynegligent" on Thursday by a federal judge in connection with itsrole in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The decision by U.S.District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who overseeslitigation related to the disaster, is likely to boost theBritish oil company's costs emerging from the biggest offshorespill in U.S. history. :
* April 20, 2010 RIG EXPLODES: An explosion on the DeepwaterHorizon oil rig at the Macondo exploration well kills 11 workersand releases millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf ofMexico. The well is capped in mid-July. BP ultimately sets aside$42 billion to pay for cleanup costs, damages and penalties.
* November 2012 CRIMINAL CASE SETTLED: BP agrees to pay $4.5billion in fines and other penalties and pleads guilty to 14criminal charges. The U.S. government bans BP from new federalcontracts, imperiling the company's role as a top U.S. offshoreoil producer and No. 1 military fuel supplier. Separately, theU.S. Department of Justice files criminal charges against threeBP employees in connection with the accident.
* December 2012 CLASS ACTION SETTLED: Barbier gives finalapproval to BP's settlement with individuals and businesses claiming to have lost money and property because of the spill.BP initially estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to settle morethan 100,000 claims, but the dollar amount is not capped. Thecompany later says the payout may grow substantially, in partbecause of payouts to many claimants who suffered no harm, andfiles numerous legal challenges to the agreement.
* February 2013 CIVIL TRIAL BEGINS: Officials from thefederal government and several U.S. states begin facing BP incourt at a three-phase civil trial over how blame should beapportioned between BP, Transocean Ltd, which owned thedrilling rig, and Halliburton Co, which did cement work.Government lawyers urge Barbier to find BP grossly negligent,which could roughly quadruple the amount of fines under the U.S.Clean Water Act.
* Sept. 30, 2013 SECOND PHASE OF TRIAL BEGINS: The secondphase begins to determine how much oil was spilled.
* Sept. 4, 2014 JUDGE FINDS BP BEARS MOST OF THE BLAME:Barbier finds BP "grossly negligent" for its role in the oilspill. He assigns 67 percent of the fault to BP, 30 percent toTransocean and 3 percent to Halliburton. BP pledges to appeal.
* January 2015 NEXT PHASE OF TRIAL SCHEDULED TO BEGIN:Barbier is scheduled to determine how much oil was spilled. Theamount would be used to calculate damages. (Compiled by David Gregorio; Editing by Howard Goller)