Jan 11 (Reuters) - One of BP's attempts to curbpayouts for what it says are "fictitious" and "absurd" claimsrelated to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has failed after alegal appeal was rejected by a U.S. court.
BP had argued in its appeal that the administration of a2012 settlement agreement was faulty because it allowedclaimants without actual damages to join in.
But a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals onFriday affirmed a federal judge's approval of the multi-billiondollar settlement between the oil company and businesses andindividuals who lost money and property in the spill.
The ruling is a blow to the company's attempt to curbpayouts to what it says are undeserving claimants.
Two out of three judges on the appeals court panel rejectedBP's arguments. The court's findings said that the company hadfailed to explain "how this court or the district court shouldidentify or even discern the existence of 'claimants that havesuffered no cognizable injury.'"
BP said in an emailed statement on Saturday that it wasassessing its legal options following the court's decision.
"BP will continue to press its position on the properinterpretation of the settlement agreement's provisionsrequiring a causal nexus between a claimant's injury and thespill," BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
BP had originally projected that its settlement in the casewould cost $7.8 billion. As of late October it had boosted thisestimate to $9.2 billion, and said this sum could grow"significantly higher" with billions of dollars already havingbeen paid out to claimants who range from hotel owners to oystergatherers.
Amongst the claims against which BP has protested are onefor $21 million from a Louisiana rice mill which is located 40miles (64 km) from the coast and which earned more revenue in2010 than in any of the previous three years.
Three years on, the shadow of the explosion of the DeepwaterHorizon drilling rig continues to hang over the company. Theblast ruptured a BP well killing 11 people and triggering thelargest-ever U.S. offshore oil spill.
BP still faces potential fines under the Clean Water Act. Ithas filed numerous lawsuits to curb payouts related to the spillafter taking provisions for $42.4 billion to cover the clean-up,compensation and fines.
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