Us Oil Spill Trial: BP reaches $7.8b part settlement

The settlement resolves a big piece of a complicated legal battle.

CHICAGO: British Petroleum (BP) said it had reached a $7.8 billion deal to settle thousands of claims from those affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, ahead of a US trial. The settlement announced Friday resolves a big piece of a complicated legal battle. “The proposed settlement represents significant progress toward resolving issues from the Deepwater Horizon accident and contributing further to economic and environmental restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast,” Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. BP is on the hook for all economic damages caused by the spill, including the cost of environmental rehabilitation, and could also be hit with costly criminal charges and punitive damages ranging from one to five times the cost of economic damages. The case will likely still go to court even if a deal is reached with the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2012.