BP will pay $18.7bn to settle spill claims

OREANDA-NEWS. July 06, 2015. BP will pay \\$18.7bn to settle federal and state claims related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico crude spill, effectively resolving most of the major issues from the accident that has plagued the company for five years.

In a settlement announced today, BP will pay \\$5.5bn in Clean Water Act fines related to the approximately 3.18mn bl of oil that spilled after the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well.

The company will pay another \\$8.1bn to the five Gulf coast states to settle natural resource damage claims, including the \\$1bn the company paid to the states previously.

Another \\$4.9bn will be paid to the five states to resolve economic loss claims and up to \\$1bn for local government economic loss claims.

The settlement precludes a federal judge in New Orleans from having to issue a finding on the Clean Water Act fines, which could have been as high as \\$13.7bn for BP.

BP said the settlement will add another \\$10bn to the \\$43.8bn in charges it has taken so far related to the spill. The federal payments will be spread out over 15 years while the state payments will occur over 18 years.