WASHINGTON Oil giant BP has agreed to pay the largestcriminal penalty in U.S. history for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a source close to the case confirmed to CBS News Thursday.
Attorney General Eric Holderis in New Orleans and is expected to announce the plea agreement at a press conference later Thursday, CBS News reports.
The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Department of Justice was the $1.2 billionfine imposed on drug makerPfizer in 2009.
BP has booked provisions of$38.1 billion to cover its liabilities from the incident, but the company has said the final cost remained highly uncertain. BP also recently announced that it expects to make the final payment this year to a $20 billion trust fund to cover damage from the blowout.
The Deepwater Horizon rig, 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, sank after the April 20,2010, explosion that killed 11 people. The well on the sea floor spewed an estimated 206 million gallons of crude oil, soiling sensitive tidal estuaries and beaches, killing wildlife and shutting vast areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing.
BP Stirs Up U.S.- Brit Backlash
