BP Agrees to Pay Billions for Oil Spill
BP has agreed to pay around $4.5 billion and plead guilty to 11 felony charges for the 2010 oil spill that devastated the Gulf coast, Bloomberg reports.
BP will also plead guilty to obstruction for lying to Congress about the amount of oil that had actually been spilt into the Gulf of Mexico, AP reports. The fine will be paid for over six years.
Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday in New Orleans to announce an agreement between the Department of Justice and BP over the 2010 oil spill that devastated the Gulf coast, The Wall Street Journal reported.
BP says publicly that discussions have advanced, but has not confirmed that an official deal has been made.
“No final agreements have yet been reached and any resolutions, if agreed, would be subject to federal court approvals in the United States,” BP said in a statement, according to The Journal.
The deal would reportedly cover criminal charges and claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but would not cover federal civil claims and some other actions the company may face.
The Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico led to the worst oil spill in U.S. history, killing 11 people and devastating wildlife. Two BP employees will face manslaughter charges over those deaths, AP reports.
