BP reaches hefty settlement with U.S. for 2010 deadly oil spill

British multinational company, BP Plc, has agreed in principle to pay up to 18.7 billion U.S. dollars in penalties to the U.S. federal government and five states to resolve claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday.

The agreement "would justly and comprehensively address outstanding federal and state claims, including Clean Water Act civil penalties and natural resource damages," said Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a statement.

Under the agreement with the DOJ and the states, BP will pay at least 12.8 billion dollars for Clean Water Act fines and natural resource damages, plus 4.9 billion dollars to states. The payouts will be staggered over as many as 18 years.

The agreement, which still needs to be approved by courts, covers Clean Water Act fines and natural resources damages, along with claims by Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas as well as 400 local government entities.

If approved by courts, this settlement would be the largest of the kind with a single entity in American history, said the Justice Department.

Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion happening on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, believed to be the largest environmental disaster in the U.S. history, killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil onto the shorelines of several states for nearly three months. Enditem