AmericasEnvironmentOffshore

BP’s bill for Deepwater Horizon disaster grows by 11%

The bill keeps climbing for BP when it comes to costs incurred from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, with the latest estimate of settlements nearing $21 billion, according to Bloomberg.

On Monday the US Department of Justice released its estimate of the total costs laid on BP and that came to $20.8bn. That’s an increase of about 11% on the previous estimated total.

Back in early July it was reported that BP had agreed to pay $18.7bn in penalties to the federal government and five coastal states affected by the huge oil spill. But that figure had overlooked a few costs including some interest payments and other reimbursements.

On 20 April 2010 a huge explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the US Gulf of Mexico killed 11 men and led to an 87-day gush of crude from the resulting uncapped well. It was the worst offshore oil spill in US history, amounting to an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil.

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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