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HOUSTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency may have been too harsh when it banned BP Plc fromlucrative federal contracts as punishment for its 2010 Macondooil spill, the United Kingdom and prominent business groups saidon Tuesday.
The U.K. government, the American Petroleum Institute andthe U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the EPA has caused regulatoryuncertainty and soured the broader investment climate by barringthe British major from acquiring new leases in the U.S. Gulf ofMexico or entering deals to supply the U.S. military with fuels.
In briefs submitted to a U.S. court, the groups made clearthey support a lawsuit BP filed in August to challenge the ban -which impacts new contracts but not existing ones.
"EPA's disqualification and suspension of multiple BPentities may have been excessive," the United Kingdom's briefsaid.
A year ago the EPA sprung the suspension on BP, citing its"lack of business integrity" after the well blowout that killed11 workers and gushed millions of barrels of oil into coastalwaters in the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.
The case is BP Exploration & Production Co et al v. McCarthyet al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, No.13-02349.
