BP has been dealt a new blow in its ongoing battle over compensation payouts from the Deepwater Horizon disaster after judges in the US threw out a claim some payments were ‘fictitious’.
The British oil major had argued that the approval of a settlement agreement in 2012 was faulty after letting claimaints who had not suffered any damages join the payouts process.
But a panel on the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed their claim, upholding a ruling by a federal judge that the payouts were right.
Two of the three panel judges rejected the appeal, saying BP had failed to expalain how the courts should identify who had not suffered losses through fraudulent claims.
The company has spent more than $40billion over the disaster, with the compensation fund having paid out an estimated $9.2billion already – a sum BP admits could rise even higher.
The oil major said it was considering its legal options after the ruling.
“BP will continue to press its position on the proper interpretation of the settlement agreement’s provisions requiring a causal nexus between a claimant’s injury and the spill,” said spokesman Geoff Morrell.
Recommended for you
