LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT), an equipment and service provider to oil and natural gas producing companies, said Monday its U.S. subsidiary has reached an agreement with BP plc (BP) for settlement of any claims between the companies related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Weatherford provided products and services to BP for the Macondo oil well.
Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered Weatherford said the settlement also included opportunities for it to partner BP to improve offshore drilling operations.
As per the settlement, BP would indemnify Weatherford for current and future compensatory claims resulting from the incident and the impacts from that event. Weatherford is required to provide BP $75 million to be applied to the Gulf Coast recovery fund established for residents, businesses and others claiming injury or damage from the oil spill.
Weatherford said the amount was being funded under insurance policies, and that any types of liability not included in BP's indemnification obligation, if assessed against Weatherford, would also be covered under its liability insurance policies.
The agreement also requires BP to indemnify Weatherford for environmental, pollution, personal, business, property and economic loss claims.
The liabilities not included are any damages assessed against Weatherford related to non-BP employees injured on the Deepwater Horizon rig and any non-compensatory damages that might be assessed against Weatherford. BP's indemnification obligation does not include civil or criminal fines and penalties and attorneys' fees.
Bernard Duroc-Danner, President and CEO of Weatherford, said,' We are extremely pleased to have reached an amicable resolution with BP, a valued customer, that gives our shareholders finality with respect to the vast majority of any potential exposure Weatherford might have from last year's incident in the Gulf.'
WFT closed Monday's regular trading at $16.90, down $0.13 or 0.76%, on the NYSE. In after-hours, the stock is up $0.21 or 1.24%.
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