BP and the state of Louisiana have agreed to close out two long-running legal matters stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with the energy giant agreeing to make a single early payment of roughly $350 million rather than continue a seven-year installment plan. The deal also resolves the remaining coastal-zone lawsuits filed by Louisiana parishes in which BP is a party.
The agreement was announced Friday, according to Reuters, which reported that BP and Louisiana agreed to resolve two long-running disputes tied to the 2010 spill through the early payment and the settlement of outstanding coastal lawsuits. BP's own announcement, posted on bp.com, frames the deal as resolving two long-standing legacy matters connected to the spill.
The roughly $350 million payment replaces $373 million in remaining payments that were due to Louisiana in equal, interest-free installments over the next seven years under the 2015 Deepwater Horizon Economic Damages Settlement, per the company's statement. The agreement was signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and BP Chief Executive Officer Meg O'Neill, the company said.
What the Deal Actually Closes Out
Beyond the payment restructuring, the agreement resolves the remaining coastal-zone lawsuits brought by Louisiana parishes to which BP is a party, according to the company's announcement. Those suits have lingered for years as part of the broader legal fallout from the spill, which dumped an estimated 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf after an April 2010 explosion roughly 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, as reported by The Guardian.
This week's agreement builds on the much larger 2015 global settlement, which covered federal, state and local government claims from the spill for up to $18.7 billion, with payments spread across 18 years, per BP's statement. That earlier deal, announced by the U.S. Department of the Interior, resolved the federal government's civil claims under the Clean Water Act, natural-resources damages claims under the Oil Pollution Act, and economic-damage claims brought by the five Gulf states and local governments.
BP also used the announcement to emphasize its continued financial footprint in Louisiana, noting it spent $590 million with Louisiana vendors in 2025 and paid more than $280 million in royalties and property and franchise taxes in the state that same year.
Coastal Restoration Projects Move Forward
The settlement news comes as Deepwater Horizon trustees have been pushing forward on coastal restoration funded by the broader spill settlements. Two Louisiana coastal projects recently won approval from the settlement trustees, with a combined cost of $265 million and an expected restoration of up to 1,700 acres, according to the New Orleans CityBusiness.
One of those, the East Orleans Landbridge project, is expected to dredge and place 5 million cubic yards of sediment to restore up to 1,320 acres of wetlands and add nearly three miles of shoreline protection, at a cost of $109 million, the outlet reported. The other, the Raccoon Island restoration plan off Terrebonne Parish, carries an expected cost of $156.3 million and would restore up to 410 acres of barrier-island habitat. Construction on the projects is listed as beginning at the end of 2027 under the state's annual coastal plan, per the same report.
A Coastline and Ecosystem Still Recovering
The restoration push underscores how much damage remains unaddressed more than a decade and a half after the spill. A USGS-NASA study found widespread shoreline loss along heavily oiled stretches of Louisiana's coast in the years following the disaster, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Further out in the Gulf, the ecological toll has also persisted. Marine life in the Gulf of Mexico fell by about 60% after the 2010 spill and has still not fully recovered, The Guardian reported, citing research on the region. Between 2011 and 2015, fish populations in the study area dropped 63.5%, macrocrustaceans including shrimp and krill fell 62%, and cephalopods such as squid and octopus declined nearly 60%, according to the same report. Separately, a long-term study cited by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that pelagic nekton — small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods — in the deep Gulf have declined by 60 to 85 percent since 2010.
