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| BP in 'advanced' talks to settle Gulf disaster claims | BP in 'advanced' talks to settle Gulf disaster claims |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BP says it is in "advanced discussions" with US agencies about settling criminal and other claims from the Gulf of Mexico well disaster two years ago. | BP says it is in "advanced discussions" with US agencies about settling criminal and other claims from the Gulf of Mexico well disaster two years ago. |
| However, in a statement, BP said "no final agreement has yet been reached". | However, in a statement, BP said "no final agreement has yet been reached". |
| Any settlement is likely to involve the UK oil major paying a record corporate fine in the US. | |
| BP said any deal would not include civil claims under the Clean Water Act, pending private civil claims, and state claims for economic loss. | |
| The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 workers and released millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. | |
| On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency cited unnamed BP sources as saying that the company would plead guilty to criminal misconduct in exchange for a waiver of future prosecution on the charges. | |
| The oil giant said on Thursday: "BP confirms that it is in advanced discussions with the United States Department of Justice and the Securities & Exchange Commission regarding proposed resolutions of all US federal government criminal and SEC claims against BP in connection with the Deepwater Horizon incident." | |
| It also said any such agreement would still be subject to court approvals. | It also said any such agreement would still be subject to court approvals. |
| A settlement is expected to dwarf the largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Department of Justice, the $1.2bn fine imposed on drug maker Pfizer in 2009. | |
| The oil giant has been selling assets worth billions of pounds to raise money to settle all claims. The company is expected to make a final payment of $860m into the $20bn Gulf of Mexico compensation fund by the end of the year. | The oil giant has been selling assets worth billions of pounds to raise money to settle all claims. The company is expected to make a final payment of $860m into the $20bn Gulf of Mexico compensation fund by the end of the year. |
| BP has booked provisions of $38.1bn to cover its liabilities from the incident, but the company has said the final cost remained highly uncertain. |