"A federal magistrate refused Wednesday to order the White House to provide BP PLC with emails by a former top adviser to President Barack Obama about the administration's response to last summer's massive Gulf oil spill.

A lawyer for the oil giant had argued that emails by Carol Browner, Obama's former adviser on energy and climate matters, and three other officials in the Executive Office of the President could shed light on the White House's role in estimating the rate of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the company's blown-out well.

But U.S. Magistrate Sally Shushan wrote that BP failed to show that it needed the White House's internal documents.

In a letter to Shushan, BP said it should be allowed to review the White House communications on the spill's flow rate because the data will help determine the company's financial liability."

Michael Kunzelman reports for the Associated Press July 20, 2011. [2]