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BP seeks to limit Gulf compensation
BP will today seek to persuade a federal appeals court to limit the way compensation is calculated for companies affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.
BP: the world's 5th largest company
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The world's 5th biggest company had originally estimated that it would pay out US $7.8 billion but now claims that its compensation bill for the 2010 spill could be far higher - as the result, it claims, of a misinterpretation by a US district judge.
The London-based oil company claims that "thousands of claimants that suffered no losses are coming forward in ever-increasing numbers, seeking and obtaining outrageous windfalls…". The company made the allegation in its submission to the three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in advance of today's hearing. The company is seeking the overturning of a ruling by District Judge Carl Barbier.
Manipulation
However, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, plaintiffs' lawyers claim that BP simply undervalued the settlement that was agreed with claimant representatives. Compensation payments are calculated by reference to the pre- and post-spill incomes of businesses. BP claims that the way the calculations are framed enables organisations to manipulate figures to their advantage.
