BP reaches settlement with Deepwater Horizon partner Weatherford

BP PLC announced Monday that it has reached a settlement with the company that provided casing components for the Deepwater Horizon oilrig which exploded and sank in 2010.

Weatherford International has agreed to pay BP $75 million in exchange for indemnity against compensatory claims made in the massive multidistrict litigation (MDL) surrounding the Deepwater Horizon disaster and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The $75 million will go toward the $20 billion Gulf Coast Claims Facility that was set up after the oil spill to compensate Gulf Coast residents and businesses that suffered economic loss as a result of the spill.

This is the second settlement BP has reached with a partner in the oil spill litigation.

In May, BP announced a $1.1 billion settlement with Japanese company Mitsui -- which does business in the United States as MOEX USA – that owned a 10 percent stake in the failed Macondo well involved in the oil spill.

In a statement released by BP on May 20, the oil company said it has agreed to indemnify MOEX in exchange for the settlement payment and all chargers against the Japanese company will be dropped.

BP recently billed Mitsui for $2.1 billion in costs related to the Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion, ensuing oil spill and cleanup efforts.

BP still has ongoing suits against other Deepwater Horizon partners Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron International as part of the multidistrict litigation that is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Louisiana.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is overseeing the litigation that has consolidated tens of thousands of claims against BP and it's Deepwater Horizon partners.

Neither BP nor MOEX accepted liability for the oilrig explosion or the oil spill as part of their settlement.

Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179