MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, amking it the largest settlement ever reached under the Clean Water Act. Approximately $45 million of the settlement is going directly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expedited environmental projects.
MOEX will pay $70 million in civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, and agreed to spend an additional $20 million to facilitate land acquisition projects in several Gulf states that will preserve and protect habitat and resources important to water quality and other environmental features of the Gulf of Mexico region. At the time of the spill, MOEX was a minority investor in the lease for the Macondo well. It no longer owns any share of the lease.
Of the $70 million in penalties, $45 million will go to the United States to replenish the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, where it will be available to pay for response actions, cleanup and damages caused by future spills. The remaining penalty will go to Gulf states participating in the settlement ($6.75 million to Louisiana; $5 million each to Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi; and $3.25 million to Texas).
