Halliburton Energy Services Inc. has agreed to a $1.1 billion settlement with Gulf Coast business and property owners over the 2010 BP oil spill, plaintiffs' lawyers announced Tuesday.
Halliburton was a subcontractor on the Deepwater Horizon rig when it exploded in April 2010, killing 11 workers, injuring 16 and setting off a disastrous months-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a statement, Halliburton said the agreement covers a "substantial majority" of its oil spill claims. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is overseeing spill litigation, must approve the agreement. The company previously set aside $1.3 billion for costs related to the litigation.
"Halliburton stepped up to the plate and agreed to provide a fair measure of compensation to people and businesses harmed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy," co-lead plaintiffs' attorneys, Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy, said in a news release.
The Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, representing spill victims, said there will be two classes of plaintiffs to receive payments in the settlement.
Individuals and business owners who are already part of the BP economic and property damages settlement will make up one class. BP is responsible for paying out claims in its multi-billion-dollar settlement reached in 2012 in federal court.
Another class is focused on punitive damages and could include individuals, businesses such as fishermen and charter boat operators, property owners or local governments.
Under the settlement, these class members are:
• Commercial fishers and charter boat operators who were in business between April 20, 2009 and April 18, 2012.
• Property owners, businesses and local governments who had oil touch their real estate or personal property between April 20, 2010 and April 18, 2012.
• Individuals who fished or hunted in certain areas for subsistence, barter or trade.
Those class members do not have to be part of the larger BP settlement to receive payments in the Halliburton punitive damages deal. Some claimants may be members of both settlements.
Halliburton provided the cement that failed to seal BP's Macondo well before it blew out; BP contractor Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and sank. The companies have argued that BP's lies about how much oil and gas was flowing from the failed well in the days immediately after the blowout, admitted in the company's criminal guilty plea, delayed efforts to cap the well.
BP contends that it did everything in its power to halt the flow of oil after the blowout.
Halliburton's settlement does not include claims by the federal and state governments.
After the second phase of the oil spill trial last year, the three companies have been waiting for Barbier to portion out blame for the disaster.
Reuters reported that Halliburton Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum, speaking at Barclays CEO energy-power conference on Tuesday, said the settlement protects the company from some punitive damages if Barbier were to rule that the company was negligent or "grossly negligent" in the disaster.
Under the agreement, a minimum number of plaintiffs must agree to be part of the settlement after a period of time allowing people to opt out. Halliburton has the option to cancel the settlement if too few agree.
Halliburton Energy Services Inc. has agreed to a $1.1 billion settlement with Gulf Coast business and property owners over the 2010 BP oil spill, plaintiffs' lawyers announced Tuesday.
Halliburton was a subcontractor on the Deepwater Horizon rig when it exploded in April 2010, killing 11 workers, injuring 16 and setting off a disastrous months-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In a statement, Halliburton said the agreement covers a "substantial majority" of its oil spill claims. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is overseeing spill litigation, must approve the agreement. The company previously set aside $1.3 billion for costs related to the litigation.
"Halliburton stepped up to the plate and agreed to provide a fair measure of compensation to people and businesses harmed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy," co-lead plaintiffs' attorneys, Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy, said in a news release.
The Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, representing spill victims, said there will be two classes of plaintiffs to receive payments in the settlement.
Individuals and business owners who are already part of the BP economic and property damages settlement will make up one class. BP is responsible for paying out claims in its multi-billion-dollar settlement reached in 2012 in federal court.
Another class is focused on punitive damages and could include individuals, businesses such as fishermen and charter boat operators, property owners or local governments.
Under the settlement, these class members are:
• Commercial fishers and charter boat operators who were in business between April 20, 2009 and April 18, 2012.
• Property owners, businesses and local governments who had oil touch their real estate or personal property between April 20, 2010 and April 18, 2012.
• Individuals who fished or hunted in certain areas for subsistence, barter or trade.
Those class members do not have to be part of the larger BP settlement to receive payments in the Halliburton punitive damages deal. Some claimants may be members of both settlements.
Halliburton provided the cement that failed to seal BP's Macondo well before it blew out; BP contractor Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and sank. The companies have argued that BP's lies about how much oil and gas was flowing from the failed well in the days immediately after the blowout, admitted in the company's criminal guilty plea, delayed efforts to cap the well.
BP contends that it did everything in its power to halt the flow of oil after the blowout.
Halliburton's settlement does not include claims by the federal and state governments.
After the second phase of the oil spill trial last year, the three companies have been waiting for Barbier to portion out blame for the disaster.
Reuters reported that Halliburton Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum, speaking at Barclays CEO energy-power conference on Tuesday, said the settlement protects the company from some punitive damages if Barbier were to rule that the company was negligent or "grossly negligent" in the disaster.
Under the agreement, a minimum number of plaintiffs must agree to be part of the settlement after a period of time allowing people to opt out. Halliburton has the option to cancel the settlement if too few agree.
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