(Adds comment from BP, paragraph 6)
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court onMonday declined a request from shareholders seeking to revivetheir class action lawsuit against BP claiming the British oilcompany misrepresented its safety procedures prior to the 2010Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The court left in place a September 2015 ruling by the NewOrleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused tocertify the lawsuit filed by investors who bought shares in the2-1/2 years before the spill. BP's share price plummetedafter the disaster, which has cost the company more than $55billion.
BP said in court papers the lawsuit should not be allowed toproceed because the plaintiffs were improperly seeking damagesfor the entire decline in stock price as a result of the spill.
The appeals court said some of the investors might havebought the stock even knowing the risk, and these investors maystill sue BP individually.
In the same ruling, the appeals court allowed claims byinvestors who bought shares after the spill to move forward.Those claims were not at issue in the appeal.
"BP has long argued that all the plaintiffs' securitiesclaims are meritless and will continue to defend vigorouslyagainst them," BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
Lawyers for the investors did not immediately respond to arequest seeking comment.
The April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosionand Macondo oil well rupture killed 11 workers and caused thelargest offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history,polluting large parts of the Gulf, killing marine wildlife andharming businesses. It took 87 days to plug the leak on theocean floor.
In total, BP has incurred about $55 billion in losses as aresult of the spill, including $18.7 billion to settle federal,state and local claims.
The case is Ludlow v. BP, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 15-952. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by JonathanStempel; Editing by Will Dunham)
BP (BP.)