HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc agreed to pay $13.027 million to settle 409 safety violations found by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration at its Texas City, Texas, refinery in follow-up inspections after a deadly 2005 explosion at the refinery that killed 15 workers, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said on Thursday.

The settlement clears a major hurdle in the path of BP's plan to sell the 400,780-barrel-per-day refinery, which is the sixth largest in the United States, by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)