Halliburton Settles Deepwater Horizon Claims
The settlement is approximately $1.1 billion, which includes legal fees and is subject to approval by a U.S. district judge in New Orleans.
Houston-based Halliburton announced Sept. 2 that it has agreed to settle "a substantial majority of the plaintiffs' class claims" against it resulting from the April 20, 2010, blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling rig Deepwater Horizon sank as a result of the well blowout, which triggered a major oil spill. The settlement is approximately $1.1 billion, which includes legal fees and is subject to approval by a U.S. district judge in New Orleans.
The company's announcement said the money will be paid in three installments into a trust until all appeals have been resolved.
The settlement agreement includes claims against Halliburton that BP assigned to the settlement class in BP's April 2012 settlement, punitive damages claims against Halliburton by a class of plaintiffs for alleged damage to property or associated with the commercial fishing industry from the spill, and an affirmation that Halliburton has no liability for compensatory damages to the members of the settlement class in the BP April 2012 settlement, according to the announcement.
It states that the settlement "is subject to an agreed-upon level of participation by the current claimants which, if not achieved, allows Halliburton to terminate the agreement."