The value of BP’s settlement with the US government and five Gulf states over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will rise to US$20.8 billion, an increase of $2bn from an agreement reached in July, said the US Department of Justice.
The settlement is the largest in the department’s history and resolves the government’s civil claims under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act as well as economic damage claims from regional authorities, according to a statement Monday.
“BP is receiving the punishment it deserves, while also providing critical compensation for the injuries it caused to the environment and the economy of the Gulf region,” US attorney general Loretta Lynch said in the statement.
The London-based company will pay $700 million for injuries and losses not yet known related to spill and $350m for the reimbursement of assessment costs, according to a consent decree filed at the US District Court in New Orleans. The company will also pay $167.4m to the US for some non-reimbursed costs related to the spill and $82.6m for lost royalties owed the US on spilled oil.
The settlement takes BP’s total budget for the spill to more than $54bn, five years after an explosion at the Macondo well polluted the Gulf of Mexico and forced the company to shed more than third of its market value and assets to pay for the accident.
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