BP faces largest-ever US criminal penalty BP is expected to pay the largest criminal penalty in US history to resolve the investigation arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Details of a settlement with the US Department of Justice were still being finalised on Wednesday night but an agreement could be announced on Thursday afternoon, according to people with knowledge of the talks. The settlement would mark another step forward for BP as it attempts to determine the cost of the disaster, which killed 11 people and caused the world's largest-ever accidental offshore oil spill. However, the company would still face actions for civil penalties and damages from federal, state and local authorities, two people familiar with the negotiations said. That case is scheduled to go to trial on February 25 next year. BP had hoped to resolve all civil and criminal actions in a single global settlement but the talks have been complicated by disagreements among the various governments over how a settlement should be shared out. Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, said back in June 2010 that BP was under investigation for possible criminal charges, but as of Wednesday none had yet been filed. The only charges brought so far have been against Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, who in April this year was accused of having intentionally destroyed evidence relating to the spill by deleting texts from his iPhone. Mr Mix has called for the charges to be thrown out on the grounds that the content of the deleted texts was innocuous. The DoJ's settlement with BP could involve the company pleading guilty immediately upon the charges being filed, or reaching a deferred prosecution agreement under which the indictment would be expunged after a period if the company does not break the law again, legal experts have said. BP would have to agree a statement of facts about how the accident was caused, and pay a fine that analysts have suggested will run to multiple billions of dollars. Individuals may also face charges. David Uhlmann, the former top environmental crimes prosecutor at the DoJ, now at the University of Michigan law school, said charges should be brought under the Seaman's Manslaughter Statute relating to the deaths of workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig, and under the Clean Water Act and Migratory Birds Treaty Act relating to the subsequent spill. BP declined to comment. Other companies involved in the disaster, including Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton, the contractor that supplied cement intended to secure the well, are likely to come under pressure to reach settlements after BP's deal. Halliburton has said it carried out its work properly and was not responsible for the accident. Transocean has said it has been in talks with the DoJ over a possible $1.5bn settlement of the authorities" claims against it, which would be paid for out of a $2bn provision the company set aside for the costs of the spill.