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NEW ORLEANS, Aug 7 (Reuters) - BP Plc must pay $130million to a court-appointed administrator overseeing paymentsto thousands of people who claimed they were hurt by the 2010Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday, ina fresh legal setback for the oil company.
BP had balked at funding the third-quarter operating budgetfor the administrator, Louisiana lawyer Patrick Juneau,complaining that his bill contained "excessive costs."
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan in New Orleans ruledthat it was "unreasonable" for BP to halt funding.
Fees have topped $560 million since Juneau's team startedwork in June 2012, shortly after BP reached an agreement withbusinesses and residents to compensate them for spill-relatedinjuries.
The fees amount to about 18 cents for each of the $3.1billion paid out so far, data from the claims administrator andthe settlement show. BP's finance director projected last weekthat the fees could eventually top $1.5 billion.
BP did not comment on Shushan's ruling.
It is trying to halt payouts, at least temporarily,complaining that Juneau's payout formula is too generous, andthat it has uncovered evidence of fraud and conflicts ofinterest in how claims are assessed.
Shushan's colleague, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier,previously rejected BP's request to freeze payouts. BP isappealing that ruling, and its appeal is pending before afederal appeals court in New Orleans.
On Monday, BP submitted court papers suggesting new evidenceof fraud and conflicts.
Juneau previously announced an internal probe of allegationsthat a former worker in the program referred claimants tolawyers in exchange for a share of payments.
The costs to BP of running the program include payments tocourt-appointed vendors and appeals panelists.
Also included are the administrative costs to processremaining claims from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, a fund setup to pay claimants before the current settlement was reached.
BP has incurred about $42.4 billion of charges related tothe April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drillingrig and rupture of the company's Macondo well. Eleven peopledied, and the resulting offshore oil spill remains the largestin U.S. history.
The company originally expected the payout program to cost$7.8 billion, but last week boosted its estimate to $9.6 billionand said it could go much higher.
The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "DeepwaterHorizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. DistrictCourt, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.
