BP Ready to Litigate Instead of Settle
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) has decided that the best way to repent from the sins it took on with the Gulf of Mexico disaster is to litigate. According to The Wall Street Journal:
BP already has agreed to pay more than $30 billion in fines, settlements and cleanup costs for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Now it is placing a big bet that by going to trial next week, it can hold down the cost of one of its last major potential liabilities for the disaster.
The London-based oil company says both the law and the facts of the case make facing a federal judge in a trial a safer bet than reaching a settlement with Gulf Coast states, businesses, individuals and the federal government for environmental-related claims.
BP shares are down more than 1% in premarket trading, at $41.49 in a 52-week range of $36.25 to $48.34.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Law, Oil & Gas Tagged: BP
