( CNN ) -- A federal judge in Louisiana on Thursday rescheduled the liability trial in the BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico and postponed it to early next year from later this year . BP earlier asked the court to delay the liability trial until it decides whether to grant final approval to a class-action settlement that BP reached with attorneys representing thousands of businesses and individuals who made claims after the 2010 spill . The new trial date is scheduled for January 14 , 2013 , U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier ordered . The trial had been scheduled for November 8 , 2012 . The oil disaster began on April 20 , 2010 , with a rig explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon . Eleven workers died . Timeline of the Gulf oil disaster . The proposed settlement totals about $ 7.8 billion , including associated costs and expenses , but the company , in a statement , cautioned the final tally could be higher . The settlement would be paid from a $ 20 billion trust , BP said . Oil spewed into the sea for nearly three months before a cap was placed on the BP-owned Macondo well , nearly a mile beneath the surface . The spill damaged coral reef formations , according to researchers . Scientists have previously confirmed that a plume of hydrocarbons from the well settled in the deep Gulf .
The liability trial in the 2010 BP oil spill is moved to January , a judge said . The trial had been scheduled for November . BP had asked for a delay as the court approved a class - action lawsuit . Two workers died and oil spewed for almost three months in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill .