tion: **FILE** Flames erupt from the BP Amoco PLC oil refinery plant in Texas City, Texas after an explosion on in this March 23, 2005 file photo. The federal government's final report on the fatal 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City refinery criticizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for lax oversight and reiterates claims that company deficiencies led to the blast. (AP Photo/The Galveston County Daily News, Dwight Andrews, file) Dato:
BP 'to pay $300m to settle US claims'
UK supermajor BP faces fines of more than $300 million to settle civil and criminal probes related to market manipulation charges and the Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 workers in 2005.
BP will pay $303 million to settle civil charges that it tried to manipulate propane prices in the US by cornering the market in February 2004, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters late last night.
The supermajor is also close to settling charges that it was criminally indifferent to worker safety, contributing to the Texas blast, the New York Times reported today, citing government officials.
BP has agreed to plead guilty to criminal environmental charges and pay $50 million to settle a US federal investigation into the deadly 2005 explosion, newswire Dow Jones said, citing people familiar with the situation.
Safety regulators said cost cuts were partly to blame for the Texas City blast.
BP declined to comment on the cases. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) refused to comment on a settlement of the market manipulation charges it had brought.
The $303 million which BP is expected to pay to settle the CFTC charges suggests the company is prepared to pay a big price to put its difficulties behind it.
The payout would dwarf the $2.5 million BP paid the New York Mercantile Exchange in 2003 to settle allegations it had improperly traded crude oil futures, and the $120 million Shell paid the Securities & Exchange Commission in 2004 to settle claims it overstated its reserves.
BP's aggressive energy trading operations made it one of the most successful players on international oil and gas markets.
In 2005, the last period for which the oil major published its trading profits, the company made over $2 billion from taking bets on energy markets.
However, BP said in its annual report that it had made "internal improvements" in its trading compliance processes following the propane-related charges last year, and dealers and industry sources said these changes appeared to have toned down the company's appetite for risky trades.