BP heads back to court for US oil spill appeal

BP is set to appeal tomorrow against the amount of its 8.5bn-dollar settlement over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil giant is making a third appeal to Judge Carl Barbier, claiming the settlement administrator Patrick Juneau has made some compensation payments for "fictitious" losses. BP has asked for an injunction to stop these claims from being paid, according to Bloomberg.

On Friday, New Orleans Federal District Court judge Barbier will preside over a court hearing on this injunction request and a lawsuit filed by BP against Juneau over the issue.

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In its motion for an injunction BP said that due to Juneau's decisions on certain business economic-loss claims "BP is already exposed to hundreds of millions of dollars in fictitious 'losses' that were never contemplated by the agreement."

"Although the ultimate exposure is at this time inestimable, it grows daily and could cost BP billions," the motion added.

The group set aside $7.8bn when it originally agreed to pay compensation in 2012.

BP has claimed Juneau has misinterpreted the settlement agreement and was overpaying and on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal with the US Court of Appeals in New Orleans of Barbier's April 5th order which had affirmed the claims administrator's interpretations.

Bloomberg noted that BP may still face claims from by the US government, the states of Louisiana and Alabama, nor institutions or companies affected subsequently.

Back in December BP had seemed content with the settlement, saying: "We believe the settlement, which avoids years of lengthy litigation, is good for the people, businesses and communities of the Gulf and is in the best interests of BP's stakeholders."

But since that time BP has filed motions to delay payments, sued Juneau and now has appealed Judge Barbier's motion denials to alter the settlement agreement in District Court.

If the judge does rule against BP tomorrow, as is widely expected, the group still has the chance to appeal to appealing to an Appellate Court which could further delay the settlement.

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