The governing board of BP's multi-billion pension scheme in the UK has stepped up its financial scrutiny of its parent following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - news that has emerged as the oil group posted a $17bn (€13bn) quarterly loss thanks to the costs of the disaster.

The trustee board, which oversees a pension fund worth £13bn (€15.6bn) - one of the UK's biggest - has been receiving weekly updates on the financial health of BP ever since the spill began in April, it said in a recently-published report to members.