AmericasOffshore

BP agrees $175m Deepwater Horizon settlement in class-action case with shareholders

BP has agreed a $175m settlement of a class-action suit relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The case was brought on behalf of shareholders who claimed that BP misrepresented the rate of flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico following the catastrophic explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010.

The explosion, claimed 11 lives and was followed by almost three months of spill as the well could not be capped.

BP publicly downplayed the oil flow from the Macondo well as being between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels per day, while its own internal estimates put it at 10 times as much.

This $175m amount will be payable in 2016 and 2017 subject to approval by the court.

By settling, the British supermajor avoids a trial that was scheduled for July in a federal court in Houston.

But there are other securities-related suits still pending over the Deepwater Horizon case.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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