Oil giant BP last night drew a line under its liabilities for the fatal Deepwater Horizon disaster, estimating the total charges to have reached $61.6billion (£46.2million).
The firm said it expects a final charge of around $2.5billion in its second quarter 2016 results, stating that any further claims would not have “material impact” on its books.
It added that any remaining claims would be handled “in the ordinary course of business”.
The final charge includes costs for the oil spill of around $5.2billion. It is estimated the accident released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Eleven people died in the incident.
BP added: “This would bring the total cumulative pre-tax charge relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident to $61.6 billion or $44billion after tax.”
Brian Gilvary, BP chief financial officer said: “Over the past few months we’ve made significant progress resolving outstanding Deepwater Horizon claims and today we can estimate all the material liabilities remaining from the incident. Importantly, we have a clear plan for managing these costs and it provides our investors with certainty going forward.”
A year ago, BP reached agreements to settle outstanding federal, state and local government claims arising from Deepwater Horizon. In the months since, BP said it has made “much further progress” resolving outstanding claims arising from the incident.
In June, BP announced a $175million settlement of claims, which was included in the total.
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