BP has agreed to shell out another $175m over Deepwater Horizon
BP agreed to settle with shareholders for $175m (£121.4m) last night over a class action lawsuit sparked by the Deepwater Horizon incident.
In a brief statement issued by the company, it noted that the settlement will be dished out to shareholders during 2016-17.
In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 people and spewing 3.2m gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico across an 87-day period. Although the rig was not solely owned by BP, it took the brunt of the blame, with a court allocating BP 67 per cent of the blame for the disaster in 2014.
Legal action triggered by the tragedy has been forcing the oil giant to dig into its pockets a fair bit so far this year. In April, a court signed off on a civil settlement, under which BP will dish out $18.7bn to affected parties including the United States government as well as the Gulf States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
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At the time of the settlement, attorney general Loretta Lynch said it "holds BP accountable with the largest environmental penalty of all time while launching one of the most extensive environmental restoration efforts ever undertaken".
The payments for the April settlement are staggered so some of it will be paid as late as 2031.
At time of writing, shares in the oil company were trading up 2.4 per cent on the London Stock Exchange at 361.6p. However, it's a far cry from the 651.5p the shares reached before the incident took place.