Oil company settles with US in Gulf spill

Feb 17, 2012, 22:06 GMT

Washington - Nearly two years after the explosion of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that caused oil to flow into the waters for months, one of the companies involved has settled with the government for 90 million dollars.

MOEX Offshore, a unit of Japan's Mitsui and Company, will pay 70 million dollars in fines for violating US environmental laws and give 20 million dollars to support environmental projects, the US Justice Department said Friday.

Eleven workers were killed in the April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig leased by BP. Some 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and dirtied its shores before the well could be stopped in July.

The US government is seeking to hold all parties involved in the accident to account and sued MOEX, which had a 10-per-cent stake in the well, in December.

The suit is part of a larger case that is to come to court February 27 to determine the liability of BP and other companies involved.

Additionally there are hundreds of individual claims related to the spill. BP has reportedly signalled its desire to reach an out-of-court settlement if possible.

The US government is pursuing billions of dollars in fines from BP and other companies involved in the spill.