LONDON (Standard&Poor's) March 6, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on BP PLC (A/Stable/A-1) are unchanged following the announced provisional settlement of an estimated $7.8 billion to meet economic and medical claims arising from the Macondo well oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We consider that continued uncertainties arising from the actions of government bodies in response to the oil spill, such as the imposition of fines on BP, remain a critical risk factor for the ratings. However, we see this settlement as somewhat supportive for our ratings on BP and consistent with our base-case assumptions. This is because the settlement addresses some material litigation and payment uncertainties, and because we
