LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Oil company BP called onFriday for an inquiry into an allegation a lawyer working forthe administrator of compensation payments for the Gulf ofMexico oil spill referred claims to a New Orleans law firm inexchange for a share of subsequent settlement payments.
The allegation, reported by the U.S. news agency AssociatedPress, comes ahead of a July 8 hearing where BP is appealingagainst the way the claims are being administered by thecourt-appointed payouts administrator, Patrick Juneau, and histeam.
Juneau was appointed last year to decide which people andcompanies should get money from BP - and how much - for the 2010Gulf of Mexico disaster under a settlement agreed between thecompany and a group of claimants. BP now disputes the way thesettlement is being interpreted.
The British oil major's costs from the spill, which killed11 men and became the United States' worst offshoreenvironmental disaster, are already in the tens of billions ofdollars. In addition to the clean-up costs, fines andcompensation, an ongoing court case could add billions more.
BP says the payments are more generous than the settlementintended but has so far failed to convince U.S. authorities tostop the payouts and conduct a review.
Based on payouts made so far, compensation claims at thecurrent rate could exhaust the BP funds set aside for them asearly as next year.
The AP report cited an email from the lawyer at the centreof the allegation, confirming that he had been suspended becauseof it. "I have not been made aware of the substance of theallegation or the status of the allegation", the report citedhim saying.
AP also reported that Juneau delivered a copy of a report onthe subject to U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier during a meetingin his chambers attended by lawyers for BP and the team ofprivate attorneys who brokered the settlement.
According to AP, the report said the head of security forJuneau's office received a complaint that the staff attorney hadreferred claims to a New Orleans law firm in exchange forportions of subsequent settlement payments. The lawyer allegedlyfiled those claims before he went to work for Juneau.
In London, BP declined to comment beyond a statement fromits head of U.S. communications, Geoff Morrell, calling for aninquiry.
"We are very concerned about these allegations and believethat only a comprehensive and independent investigation willensure the integrity of the claims process," the statement said.
A spokesman for Juneau could not immediately be reached onFriday.