BP fined $373 million for criminal conduct

Fine miniscule compared to company profits - officials walk away from jail sentence after 15 deaths.

Oil company British Petroleum (BP) has been fined $373 million for a fraud conspiracy, negligent oil leaks in Alaska, the deaths of 15 oil workers in Texas, and illegally manipulating prices for propane.

In addition to the explosion, the settlement covers the penalties from leaks of crude oil pipelines in Alaska and for a fraud conspiracy to corner the propane market in order to manipulate prices, top government officials announced at a Justice Department news conference.

The payments BP agreed to make include $50 million in criminal fines as part of a guilty plea for violating the Clean Air Act, in connection with the refinery explosion, which killed 15 and injured more than 170.

In addition, a 20-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Chicago Thursday charged four former employees of a BP subsidiary with conspiring to manipulate the propane market in 2005 in order to set propane at an inflated price.