Shares in BP rose 2% today after one of its Gulf of Mexico drilling partners agreed a $90 million
(£57 million) settlement with the US government over the fatal oil spill, fuelling hopes it will do the same, and at a sharply lower cost than previously expected.
The Macondo lawsuit is scheduled to start a week today but news that Mitsui of Japan, which owned a 10% stake in the well that exploded in April 2010, has become the first company to settle with US authorities saw City analysts suggest BP could do the same.
And the terms of Mitsui's Clean Water Act penalty means BP could pay as little as $900 million for its own damage, almost a quarter of what it had put aside. The Japanese firm's fine works out at about $175 for each barrel of the four million barrels of oil that were spilt, sharply lower than the potential maximum of $4300 per barrel leaked into the Gulf.
"This shows the department of justice's willingness to settle the case and implies that the potential Clean Water Act liability could be settled at $900 million, well below the $3.5 billion BP has provisioned for," said Alejandro Demichelis, oil analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "That said, Moex's position as minority partner could be seen differently from BP's as operator."
Shares in BP rose 9.5p to 498.4p.
