BP Reaches $350 Million Settlement with Louisiana

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 23, BP signed a settlement agreement with the U.S. state of Louisiana, resolving two long-running disputes arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig oil spill. Under the agreement, BP will make a one-time upfront payment of approximately $350 million in lieu of the $373 million in economic damages it had been scheduled to pay in installments over the next seven years, while also resolving the remaining coastal zone damage litigation involving the company. The agreement was signed jointly by the Governor of Louisiana, the state Attorney General, and BP's Chief Executive Officer.

The payment is part of the follow-up implementation of the 2015 Deepwater Horizon settlement agreement. Under the original terms, BP was required to pay the remaining compensation to Louisiana in installments over the next seven years, without interest. The two sides have now adjusted the payment method to a lump-sum payment, reducing the amount by approximately $23 million compared with the total remaining payments originally scheduled.

The agreement also covers remaining coastal zone damage lawsuits filed against BP by local government units across Louisiana. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said the state government has now completed claims processing and settlements with the vast majority of the major defendants involved in these coastal zone lawsuits, with only one major defendant remaining to be resolved.