BP ordered to pay more than $20bn to settle claims from Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Oil giant BP has been ordered to shell out more than $20bn (£13.2bn) in fines to resolve nearly all claims from its deadly Gulf of Mexico oil spill five years ago, US attorney general Loretta Lynch said yesterday.
It is the largest corporate settlement of its kind in US history.
The agreement, first outlined in July, adds to the $43.8bn BP had previously set aside for criminal and civil penalties and cleanup costs. The company has said its total pre-tax charge for the spill is now around $53.8bn.
In July, BP settled a massive lawsuit surrounding the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident, agreeing yesterday to pay up to $18.7bn in respect of US federal, state and local claims connected with the disaster.
The payout comprises $5.5bn in civil payments, $4.9bn in state claims payments, and $7.3bn in natural resource damages. The settlement will be staggered across 17-years.
BP boss Bob Dudley said the settlement made planning the future “much clearer”, adding: “We’ll be able to spend more time on what we do well, which is finding, producing, developing, selling products in oil and gas.”