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. Their claim was based on the allegation that BP publicly “lowballed” the amount of oil flowing from its Macondo well.

A federal judge says BP will begin paying up to $1 billion in settlements to compensate local governments across the Gulf Coast for lost tax revenue and other economic damages they blame on the company's 2010 oil spill.

As 2011 dawned, BP was desperate to turn the page. For nine months, the crisis-stricken oil major had been weathering the US fallout from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 workers and caused the largest oil spill in history.