A former BP PLC (BP) employee and senior responder during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has agreed to pay $224,118 to settle charges of insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.

Keith A. Seilhan of Tomball, Texas, has agreed to return more than $100,000 of allegedly ill-gotten gains and pay a civil penalty.

As part of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, Mr. Seilhan didn't admit or deny the allegations.

A spokesman for Stone Energy Corp. (SGY), where Mr. Seilhan now works as vice president for Gulf of Mexico Deepwater operations, said Mr. Seilhan wasn't available for comment.

BP couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

According to the complaint, filed in a Louisiana federal court, Mr. Seilhan, then an employee of BP and an experienced crisis manager, was tasked with coordinating oil collection and cleanup operations.

The complaint claims Mr. Seilhan received privileged information on the extent of the disaster, including oil flow estimates and volume of oil floating on the Gulf.

The price of BP securities fell sharply after the April 20, 2010, explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which led to an extensive and costly cleanup effort.

The complaint alleges that as of April 29, 2010, BP estimated the flow rate of the spill in regulatory filings as up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day. The company's public estimate was significantly lower than the actual flow rate, later estimated to be between 52,700 and 62,200 barrels of oil a day, the SEC said.

The complaint charges Mr. Seilhan, knowing the magnitude of the spill and the company's potential liability, directed the sale of his family's entire $1 million portfolio of BP securities.

The agency said the trades allowed Mr. Seilhan to avoid losses and reap unjust profits as the price of BP securities dropped by about 48% after the sales on April 29 and April 30, 2010, reaching their lowest point in late June 2010.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

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