A damaging report probing the BP oil spill in the gulf could result in a settlement of over $30 billion in economic damages, well over the $20 billion BP has already set aside to compensate victims of the spill through a fund overseen by the U.S. government.
The new report issued Wednesday by the joint Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement probe into the Macondo well explosion showcases mistakes by Transocean and Halliburton, but places most of the blame on BP. The Macondo well blow-out led to the death of 11 men and was perhaps the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
A February trial date has been set in the oil-spill matter. But sources close to BP said after the report, “We would like everything settled as soon as we can, otherwise you have lingering reputation issues and investor uncertainty.”
BP reports that is has paid around $7 billion to compensate fishermen, hoteliers and cruise ship owners, mainly through the $20 billion fund it created under President Barack Obama’s direction, and expects to pay out another $7.4 billion, according to its regulatory filings.
Lawyer Brent Coon, who is representing some of the claimants, says that from what he has seen, actual economic damages could be much higher.
“So far they’ve been handling mainly the smaller cases.”
Coon sees BP being forced to pay out another $10-20 billion to cover economic claims. Some legal experts believe the total could even be much higher.