BP pledges $1bn for Gulf repair projects

BP has agreed to provide $1 billion (€686,173) toward initial projects in the Gulf of Mexico to address damage to natural resources from last year’s oil spill, the US Justice Department said.

The announcement came as it emerged BP has filed for damages of more than $80bn from Halliburton and Transocean a year after the Gulf of Mexico rig explosion that killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the sea.

Analysts said BP has little chance of winning the cases — particularly if service providers are protected by indemnities — and is more likely trying to force the companies to settle.

Experts said pursuing the lawsuits could further damage BP’s reputation as well as reveal yet more embarrassing details of the way the disaster was handled.

BP’s is seeking more than $42bn in its suit against Halliburton, which cemented the blown-out well that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It is claiming a similar sum from rig owner Transocean.

“It’s got a fairly low chance of being successful,” said one analyst who declined to be named because of the legal sensitivities around the case.

“I get the feeling that there is positioning going on here for a settlement.”

BP said Halliburton concealed critical information which could have prevented the disaster.

The oil giant is also suing the maker of the device that failed to stop the calamitous oil spill.

The developments came in separate court filings in federal court in New Orleans on the one-year anniversary of the disaster.

BP said every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon rig failed.

It also says Cameron International provided a blow-out preventer with a faulty design.

The $1bn agreement for Gulf projects, the largest ever of its kind, represented a first step toward fulfilling BP’s obligation to fund the complete restoration of harmed public resources, such as rebuilding coastal marshes and replenishing damaged beaches.

The Justice Department said the agreement does not affect the ultimate liability of BP or any other company for environmental damages or other liabilities, but lets restoration projects get started sooner.

The states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas will each select and implement $100m in projects, while the rest of the money will be used for projects picked by the federal government or by trustees for the oil spill, the department said.