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(Adds quote from BP, background, separate settlement byHalliburton)
HOUSTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - BP Plc asked a U.S. courton Tuesday to fire the court-appointed lawyer tasked with payingout compensation to people affected by the 2010 Gulf of Mexicooil spill, saying the lawyer had not disclosed an allegedconflict of interest before taking the job.
The motion in U.S. District Court in New Orleans said thelawyer, Patrick Juneau, lacks neutrality because he hadadvocated for claimants before the court appointed him to runthe claims program.
It was the latest in a series of legal challenges filed bythe London-based oil major, which has complained previously thatJuneau has been too generous and liberal when approving claims.
"In order to restore the integrity of the claims program,the court should replace him," BP said.
Juneau has said he is just applying the rules of the 2012settlement agreement that was approved by U.S. District JudgeCarl Barbier.
BP originally expected the class-action settlement toresolve economic and health claims by more than 100,000individuals and businesses to cost $7.8 billion. It has sincesaid the uncapped program could cost $9.2 billion and that thisamount could grow.
The 1,000-page settlement deal was negotiated by BP and acommittee of plaintiffs' lawyers to avoid individual lawsuits bycompensating a wide class of businesses and individuals in oneswoop.
BP has sustained more than $42 billion in charges from theApril 20, 2010, disaster aboard the Deepwater Horizon drillingrig that killed 11 workers in the worst offshore oil spill inU.S. history.
More charges are possible as the trial to determine blameand overall damages from the spill, including those under thefederal Clean Water Act, is ongoing.
Separately on Tuesday, oilfield services providerHalliburton Co reached a $1.1 billion settlement forclaims related to its role in the spill. Halliburton providedcementing services on the blown-out Macondo well.
The settlement protects Halliburton from certain punitivedamages if the court were to rule later that the company hadbeen "negligent" or "grossly negligent" for its role in theblowout, Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum said.
The case can be found under: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig"Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010,U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No.10-md-02179. (Reporting by Houston Newsroom; Editing by Leslie Adler)
