BP to pay US$175m to settle claims it hid Deepwater Horizon spill size

Detroit

BP plc said it agreed to pay US$175 million to settle claims by US investors that its managers lied about the size of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to prop up its stock price, leading to massive losses when the true scope of the disaster was revealed.

The investors had sought as much as US$2.5 billion, and their case was the last major overhang from the 2010 spill for BP. The settlement averts a trial that was set for July in Houston federal court.