Offshore staff
LONDON – BP reports is has agreed with Cameron to settle all claims between the two regarding the Macondo Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Under the agreement, Cameron will pay BP $250 million which will go into BP’s $20-billion trust established to meet claims arising from the incident.
The settlement also results in the discontinuance of any legal proceedings between BP and Cameron, including Multi-District Litigation 2179 in New Orleans.
“Today’s settlement allows BP and Cameron to put our legal issues behind us and move forward to improve safety in the drilling industry,” said Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive. “Cameron is the fourth company to settle with BP and contribute to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the Gulf. Unfortunately, other companies persist in refusing to accept responsibility for their roles in the accident and for contributing to restoration efforts.”
According to the settlement announcement release, BP and Cameron each acknowledge that the Deepwater Horizon accident resulted from complex and interlinked causes involving multiple parties. They agree that the entire industry can and should learn from the accident in order to improve safety in the drilling industry by developing, among other things, standard specifications for blowout preventers and other drill through equipment. BP and Cameron have committed to working together to improve processes and procedures, managerial systems, specifications and safety and best practices in offshore drilling operations. Both BP and Cameron will encourage other companies in the drilling industry to join them in this improvement and reform effort.
BP also has settled with MOEX and Anadarko, BP’s partners in the Macondo well, and Weatherford, the maker of the float collar used at the well. From the outset, BP has committed to paying all legitimate claims and fulfilling its obligations to the Gulf communities under the Oil Pollution Act. To date, BP has paid out approximately $7.5 billion to individuals, businesses, and government entities.
12/16/2011
