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By Kathy Finn
NEW ORLEANS, April 5 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge's rulingFriday against BP Plc means the company can proceed withits appeal of the way a court-appointed administrator apportionspayments for claims related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oilspill, some of which BP called "absurd."
Federal District Judge Carl Barbier said he found no reasonto reverse his decision last month to uphold the payout process.This was despite BP's protest at payouts including $21 millionfor a Louisiana rice mill 40 miles (64 km) from the coast whichearned more revenue in 2010 than in any of the previous threeyears.
The hearing in New Orleans federal court revisited a part ofBP's liability laundry list that seemed settled last year whenit agreed to terms on economic, property and medicalcompensation for individuals and businesses who filed a classaction suit.
As of Friday, more than 160,000 claims have been submittedunder the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property DamagesSettlement, according to the settlement website, and a total of$1.87 billion of payments had been made on 27,488 claims.
The source of dispute is about the calculation of businesseconomic losses, for which $743 million has been paid out on4,461 claims, according to the website.
BP initially estimated the overall settlement bill at $7.8billion, but the total is uncapped, and dependent on decisionsmade by Patrick Juneau, a Louisiana lawyer who administers thepayments under complex rules set out by the agreement.
"BP believes today's proceedings and the related filingswere necessary steps on the way to appellate review," thecompany said in a statement on Friday, confirming it had filed anotice of appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals - thenext step in the federal judicial hierarchy.
BP said it would consider how to proceed based on Barbier'slatest ruling, but reiterated that Juneau's interpretation ofthe settlement produced "unjustified windfall payments" for"non-existant, artifically calculated" losses.
Barbier told BP that it should take the issue up with theappeals court and then ask him to stay his original decision touphold the payouts process on March 5.
Barbier is also presiding over a trial to determine blameand overall damages for the disaster at the Macondo well, andthat trial enters its seventh week on Monday.
The accident killed 11 people and triggered the worstoffshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP has estimated it willspend at least $42 billion to cover clean-up, fines and otherliabilities, and has sold off assets to cover its costs.
In an affidavit this week, Juneau explained the workings ofthe claims administration, which started operating last Junefollowing the April 2012 settlement. Over the summer, his teamof experts and accounting firms ran blind tests of real claimsand tweaked the process after suggestions from BP, Juneau said.
Juneau added that he himself had raised the possibility ofpeople being compensated even if their losses were not spillrelated, and BP's lawyers responded to him that those peoplewere entitled to full recovery.
After a fairness hearing in November, Barbier granted finalapproval of the process the following month. Juneau noted therewas already an internal appeals process set out in the agreementfor any party which disagreed with the program's calculations,involving an independent panel of court-appointed neutrals.
On top of the plaintiffs' claims, there are also civilclaims under the Clean Water Act covered by the New Orleanstrial that could add as much as $17.5 billion to the total bill.Billions more could be piled on in economic damage claims fromGulf Coast states, while a third set of claims, for naturalresource damage, have not yet been filed.
The overall civil trial heard by Barbier is In re: Oil Spillby the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, onApril 20, 2010, U.S. District Court, Eastern District ofLouisiana, No. 10-md-02179.
