S&P revises BP outlook to stable

Standard & Poor's said it revised its outlook on BP plc to stable from positive.

At the same time, the agency affirmed the A long-term and A-1 short-term corporate credit ratings on the group.

S&P said the outlook revision reflects the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana that a subsidiary BP was grossly negligent with regard to the oil spill from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

Although BP has said it will appeal the decision and the penalty has yet to be determined, the agency now assumes that the total payout will be up to $14 billion higher than it previously forecast. Consequently, S&P considers that rating headroom has significantly reduced.

S&P said it understands that additional proceedings to determine the size of this penalty are currently scheduled to begin in January 2015, but note that the timings of both the conclusion of this case and the payment profile of this and other fines also remain uncertain.

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