BP will be able to end its payments into the $20bn compensation fund it established last year to help meet claims from last year’s Gulf of Mexico accident one year earlier than expected after the UK group struck an out-of-court settlement with Anadarko Petroleum.
Under the agreement announced on Monday, Anadarko Petroleum, one of BP’s minority partners in the Macondo well, will pay $4bn to settle all claims between the two companies. Although the sum paid by Anadarko is substantially less than what BP might have won in court, the US company will drop its allegations of gross negligence against the UK group and transfer its
25 per cent stake in the well. BP’s shares closed up 2.2 per cent in London on the news.