6/10/2014
U.S. Supreme Court: BP Must Pay Compensation for Oil-Spill Damage
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that BP Plc must continue paying hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for damage done by the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico while awaiting the court’s decision on whether to hear the company’s arguments on the validity of the claims.
In a one-line ruling, the high court said Monday that it will not interfere with a lower court’s decision requiring BP to restart payments.
BP lawyers argued that some payments could go to companies whose losses were unrelated to the oil spill following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, in which 11 workers were killed.
In 2012, BP reached an agreement with the majority of plaintiffs in the private sector to cover damages for a value of some $7.8 billion.
The company argued that an erroneous interpretation by the claims administrator contributed to raising the cost to more than $9.2 billion.
Payments to the companies have been blocked for six months as BP appealed the district-court rulings, but two weeks ago the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered payments resumed.
Failure to suspend “the payment of business economic loss claims will allow hundreds of millions of dollars to be irretrievably scattered to claimants whose losses were not plausibly caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident,” BP Senior Vice President Geoff Morrell said Monday.
BP says it has already paid out more than $12 billion in response to the claims of individuals, companies and government agencies.
The oil spill began on April 20, 2010, and was not controlled until July 15. The crude polluted an area covering 176,100 sq. kilometers (67,990 sq. miles).
U.S. Supreme Court: BP Must Pay Compensation for Oil-Spill Damage
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that BP Plc must continue paying hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for damage done by the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico while awaiting the court’s decision on whether to hear the company’s arguments on the validity of the claims.In a one-line ruling, the high court said Monday that it will not interfere with a lower court’s decision requiring BP to restart payments.
BP lawyers argued that some payments could go to companies whose losses were unrelated to the oil spill following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, in which 11 workers were killed.
In 2012, BP reached an agreement with the majority of plaintiffs in the private sector to cover damages for a value of some $7.8 billion.
The company argued that an erroneous interpretation by the claims administrator contributed to raising the cost to more than $9.2 billion.
Payments to the companies have been blocked for six months as BP appealed the district-court rulings, but two weeks ago the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered payments resumed.
Failure to suspend “the payment of business economic loss claims will allow hundreds of millions of dollars to be irretrievably scattered to claimants whose losses were not plausibly caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident,” BP Senior Vice President Geoff Morrell said Monday.
BP says it has already paid out more than $12 billion in response to the claims of individuals, companies and government agencies.
The oil spill began on April 20, 2010, and was not controlled until July 15. The crude polluted an area covering 176,100 sq. kilometers (67,990 sq. miles).
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