BP Plc said Friday it will be paid $1.065 billion by Moex Offshore 2007 LLC, which had a 10% interest in the blown out Macondo well, to settle all claims between the companies related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010.
BP, in a press release Friday, said it would immediately apply the payment to the $20 billion trust it established to meet individual, business and government claims related to the oil spill, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
MOEX Offshore is a unit of Mitsui & co., the Japanese trading house.
“This settlement is an important step forward for BP and the Gulf communities,” said BP CEO Bob Dudley. “MOEX is the first company to join BP in helping to meet our shared responsibilities in the Gulf, and Mitsui, through MOEX USA Corp., is showing great corporate citizenship in standing behind its affiliate and making a contribution to meet the costs of this tragic accident. We call on the other parties involved in the Macondo well to follow the lead of the MOEX and Mitsui parties.”
BP said it was working to “ensure that the other parties involved in the Maconda well” – Transocean, Anadarko and Halliburton – “contribute appropriately.”
MOEX Offshore filed a lawsuit in New Orleans on the April 20 anniversary of the Gulf spill, asking a federal judge to declare it wasn’t responsible for the damages and cleanup costs resulting from the oil spill. MOEX was joined by Anadarko, which had a 25% interest in the well, in suing BP. Both companies said BP was responsible for the blow-out and the spill.
BP said the agreement wasn’t an admission of liability by any party for the oil spill accident.
