BP will try and overturn previous settlement in the US today

BP was on Monday to head back to the US Fifth Circuit appeal court, in New Orleans, to try and overturn a previous legal settlement used by the claims administrator that led to much higher compensation payments than originally envisaged.That came after BP´s payments for business economic losses following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill - the type of claim most strongly disputed by BP - had slowed sharply since October 11th. They had come down from a rate of about $58m per week to about $8m per week since then, according to the latest data from the court-appointed claims administrator, the Financial Times reported. In its third-quarter results BP scaled back its provision for the cost of the settlement from $9.6bn to $9.2bn, yet that was still much higher than the $7.8bn originally estimated.The final bill will be higher again, depending on the outcome of future court decisions.AB