The 2005 blast at BP's Texas City refinery killed 15 people

The blast at the Texas refinery in 2005 killed 15 people and also injured 170.

Eva Rowe's case had been set to be the first civil trial, which she had hoped to use to draw attention to the blast.

Earlier this month US investigators found internal BP reports highlighting maintenance backlogs and poor infrastructure at the site.

The explosion happened when a cloud of volatile hydrocarbon vapour released from an octane unit ignited around work trailers nearby.

'Deeply sorry'

Ms Rowe, whose parents James and Linda Rowe, of Hornbeck, Louisiana, were killed, said she had been hoping to use her case to help prevent a similar disaster.

BP spokeswoman Sarah Howell said: "We are deeply sorry that she had to go through an ordeal like this and we truly regret her loss."

BP, which has put aside $1.2bn (�641m) to resolve legal disputes, has settled the other fatal cases and come to agreements over hundreds of lawsuits.

Ms Rowe's lawyers had been seeking a similar fund in damages, although details of her legal settlement are not being revealed.

Lawyer Brent Coon said efforts to settle the case included stipulations that BP made the refinery and other facilities safer.

Part of the settlement - reached as jurors were to be sworn in at the 212th District Court in Galveston, Texas - will be used to establish endowments and trusts at universities, Mr Coon added.