Texas Green Blotter

I profiled BP’s Texas City refinery in last week’s installment of Major Source Sunday. Today, the Houston Chronicle brings the news that criminal charges against BP will be settled:

 BP has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department to settle criminal allegations stemming from the March 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 people and injured many more, a source with knowledge of the deal said late Tuesday.

The revelation came after other sources said the London-based oil giant expects to pay more than $300 million to settle unrelated charges that it manipulated the price of propane three years ago.

Of the case involving the plant explosion, the agreement — barring last-minute changes — is slated to be made public this week and will conclude the government’s criminal probe into the company’s actions surrounding and leading up to the 2005 disaster, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity,

BP declined comment Tuesday.

The person familiar with the refinery blast accord said the company had agreed to plead guilty to a crime and pay a fine. Further details were unavailable.

The reports of the two settlements came as the London-based oil giant announced a 29 percent drop in third-quarter profits, and analysts said the company is trying to get past safety and operational problems that have plagued its environmentally friendly image and damaged its competitive edge compared to its Big Oil peers.

The price manipulation settlement, also expected to be announced later this week, likely will spare the company criminal charges related to allegations its Houston-based traders attempted to fix prices of fuel that flowed through a pipeline running from Mont Belvieu, in Chambers County, to markets in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Criminal charges still may be filed against the individual traders later this week in Chicago, according to the sources familiar with that case.

More analysis will be laid out here when the settlement terms become public.

Update: $50 Million.