US oil spill: Judge clears BP’s $7.8b settlement
The incident caused the death of 11 workers.
WASHINGTON:
British oil giant – British Petroleum (BP) – won approval on Friday from a US federal judge of a $7.8 billion settlement with people and businesses who lost money and property due to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the deal addresses the bulk of private claims over the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the oil spill that resulted from its explosion, it does not affect an anticipated tens of billions of dollars in fines and claims from the US government and impacted coastal states and local governments. Nor does it resolve suits filed by shareholders or others seeking compensation because of a drilling moratorium imposed after the worst environmental disaster in US history. The incident also caused the death of 11 workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2012.
British oil giant – British Petroleum (BP) – won approval on Friday from a US federal judge of a $7.8 billion settlement with people and businesses who lost money and property due to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the deal addresses the bulk of private claims over the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the oil spill that resulted from its explosion, it does not affect an anticipated tens of billions of dollars in fines and claims from the US government and impacted coastal states and local governments. Nor does it resolve suits filed by shareholders or others seeking compensation because of a drilling moratorium imposed after the worst environmental disaster in US history. The incident also caused the death of 11 workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2012.