On January 16, British
energy giant BP said it expects to take a post-tax non-operating charge of
around $1.7 billion in its fourth quarter 2017 results for the remaining
Business Economic Loss (BEL) and other claims associated with the Court
Supervised Settlement Program (CSSP) established as part of the Deepwater
Horizon (DWH) class action settlement.
According to BP, the cash
impact is expected to be spread over a multi-year period.
According to BP, the charge
results primarily from significantly higher claims determinations issued by the
CSSP in the fourth quarter and the continuing effect of the Fifth Circuit’s
adverse May 2017 ruling on the matching of revenues with expenses when
evaluating BEL claims.
"With the claims facility’s
work very nearly done, we now have better visibility into the remaining
liability,” BP Chief Financial Officer
Brian Gilvary
said. "The charge we are taking as a result is
fully manageable within our existing financial framework, especially now that
we have the company back into balance at $50 per barrel,” he added.
BP said that cash payments
related to DWH in 2018 are now anticipated to be around $3 billion, as compared
to the company’s third-quarter estimate of just over $2 billion.
BP said the company would
continue to vigorously appeal determinations of claims that it believes are
non-compensable under the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee settlement agreement.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/deepwater-horizon-claims-near-closure-bp-take-1-7-billion-post-tax-non-operating-charge/