BP has agreed to pay $175m to settle claims that it deceived shareholders by underplaying the severity of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. As the The Guardian wrote, the settlement, to be paid this year or next, ends a legal battle that began when a Houston judge ruled investors who bought shares shortly after the explosion at its Deepwater Horizon rig could sue BP.
Their claim was based on the allegation that BP publicly “lowballed” the amount of oil flowing from its Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico. The well spewed more than 3m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days.
The disaster, which killed 11 workers, has already forced BP to set aside more than $56b to cover cleanup and legal costs. While the settlement removes one source of uncertainty for investors over how much more BP will shell out over the disaster, it also illustrates how, after six years, the spill continues to be a drain on the company. In fact, the company still faces outstanding legal claims, and has said it is impossible to estimate how much it will ultimately cost, The Wall Street Journal reported.
