Cameron, based in Houston, designed and manufactured the so-called blowout preventer on the drilling rig, which failed to stop the oil from spilling. The settlement, which is BP’s fourth so far with companies that worked on some parts of the well, was not an admission of liability by either party, BP said.
The “settlement allows BP and Cameron to put our legal issues behind us and move forward to improve safety in the drilling industry,” Robert W. Dudley, the BP chief executive, said in the company’s statement. “Unfortunately, other companies persist in refusing to accept responsibility for their roles in the accident and for contributing to restoration efforts.”
BP had already agreed to similar settlements with Anadarko Petroleum; a unit of Mitsui Oil Exploration, MOEX, which had stakes in the well; and Weatherford International, which made a part of the well. Those settlements totaled about $5.1 billion.
Legal fights over claims worth tens of billions of dollars continue with Transocean, which owned and operated the rig, the Deepwater Horizon, and with Halliburton, which was responsible for cement work.
BP plans to use the cash payment from Cameron to help settle individual and government claims and pay for costs related to the oil spill.
The company had set aside about $41 billion to cover all costs related to the spill, including a $20 billion compensation fund. It said Friday it had already paid out about $7.5 billion to local businesses and individuals.
BP said Cameron agreed that the well failure and the explosion of the drilling rig was the result of several complex and interlinked issues and not the fault of one single company. BP said it agreed to indemnify Cameron for compensation claims resulting from the accident as part of the settlement.
Cameron said Friday that the settlement was “the right action as it removes uncertainty facing Cameron in the litigation associated with the Deepwater Horizon event.”
“Though this agreement does not provide indemnification against fines and penalties, punitive damages or certain other potential noncompensatory claims, we do not consider these items to represent a significant risk to Cameron,” Jack Moore, the chief executive, said in a statement. Cameron said its insurance would cover at least $170 million of the settlement and that the company would have to take a charge in the fourth quarter for the remaining amount.
The explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, killed 11 workers and caused a spill of nearly five million barrels of oil.
BP has continued to invest in exploration in the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, and in October received its first permit from United States regulators since the oil spill to drill a new well in the region.
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