The US government will be giving BP some 100 documents about the size of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill that have not yet been made public.

Since the beginning of the 2010 BP Gulf oil spill, there has been reluctance to disclose information about the size of the spill and the damage it caused — on the part of both BP and the federal government.

After complaints from BP, the government agreed to give the company evidence of the basis for its calculation of the flow rate from the stricken well. The estimate of the amount of oil that leaked from the well will be one basis for the calculation of financial penalties BP will pay.

• "U.S. To Give BP Evidence on Size of Gulf Oil Spill," [2] Reuters, April 13, 2012, Jonathan Stempel.
• Previous Story: "Spill Commission: Obama Admin Blocked Release of Oil Flow Data," [3] WatchDog of October 20, 2010.