P Reports 2011 Gains As It Braces for Oil Spill Trial

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　　With higher oil prices through much of last year, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said Tuesday the firm's revenues are increasing and it was able to erase¹ nearly $4 billion in 2010 losses. BP raised the dividend² it pays stockholders by 14 percent.

　　An oil rig operated by BP and its corporate³ partners exploded in April 2010 in the Gulf⁴ of Mexico. Eleven workers were killed and nearly five million barrels of oil spewed into the waters over a three-month period before the well was capped. It was the worst-ever offshore⁵ oil spill in the United States and the company now says it expects the damages from the accident to total $43 billion.

　　BP faces about 600 civil lawsuits⁶ brought by individuals and companies damaged as the oil spread in the gulf, and from the U.S. government, which says the company violated the country's environmental regulations. A combined trial is set to start February 27 in New Orleans, Louisiana, a major city near where the spill occurred.

　　BP's Dudley said the firm remains⁷ willing to settle the lawsuits "on fair and reasonable terms," but that if it cannot, it is "preparing vigorously for trial."

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