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| BP in court hearing alleging misconduct in oil-spill payments | BP in court hearing alleging misconduct in oil-spill payments |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Oil giant BP is back in court in the US to try to limit compensation payouts from a fund set up to help those affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. | Oil giant BP is back in court in the US to try to limit compensation payouts from a fund set up to help those affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. |
| BP and businesses are laying arguments before three judges in New Orleans. | BP and businesses are laying arguments before three judges in New Orleans. |
| The oil giant wants the panel to overturn a federal judge's ruling that upheld a claims administrator's interpretation of the settlement. | The oil giant wants the panel to overturn a federal judge's ruling that upheld a claims administrator's interpretation of the settlement. |
| The company claims some payments are for fictitious and inflated losses. | The company claims some payments are for fictitious and inflated losses. |
| It says the administrator has wrongly allowed payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. | It says the administrator has wrongly allowed payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. |
| But the businesses' lawyers say that BP underestimated how many claims it would have to meet. | But the businesses' lawyers say that BP underestimated how many claims it would have to meet. |
| Abuse | Abuse |
| Last week it was revealed that a former FBI chief, Louis Freeh, would look into claims of misconduct relating to the payments. | Last week it was revealed that a former FBI chief, Louis Freeh, would look into claims of misconduct relating to the payments. |
| BP, which has warned that the compensation system is being abused, welcomed the appointment. | BP, which has warned that the compensation system is being abused, welcomed the appointment. |
| The explosion of the oil rig killed 11 workers and released an estimated four million barrels of oil into the Gulf and along the coastline. | The explosion of the oil rig killed 11 workers and released an estimated four million barrels of oil into the Gulf and along the coastline. |
| BP put aside $7.8bn (£5.2bn) when it agreed to pay compensation in 2012, but the company has become increasingly concerned that the final figure would be much higher. | BP put aside $7.8bn (£5.2bn) when it agreed to pay compensation in 2012, but the company has become increasingly concerned that the final figure would be much higher. |
| BP said in its statement that Mr Freeh had been granted "wide latitude" to look for other possible misconduct within the Court Supervised Settlement Program. | BP said in its statement that Mr Freeh had been granted "wide latitude" to look for other possible misconduct within the Court Supervised Settlement Program. |
| BP has no control over its payments to claimants having agreed to a compensation formula and framework. | BP has no control over its payments to claimants having agreed to a compensation formula and framework. |
| Looking east for help | |
| BP recently revealed that it has asked the UK government for help in overturning the settlement agreement. | |
| The company has already warned in its most recent earnings note that the $8.2bn it has set aside to cover compensation payments will be "significantly" too little. It warned that the amount that it might be forced to pay out "is uncapped except for economic loss claims related to the Gulf Seafood industry." | |
| Claims administrator Patrick Juneau spoke with the BBC in May. | |
| He revealed that as of the end of May, more than 165,877 claims had been made, of which 40,907 totalling $3.2bn were eligible. More than 26,000 have been rejected. | |
| While he agreed it was possible that some claimants were receiving funds for losses unrelated to the spill, he argued that it was a risk BP knew it was taking when it agreed to the compensation framework. | |
| "There are thousands of reasons for parties to bring a claim - it's not for me to determine why they make the decisions," Mr Juneau said. | |
| "I'm a very moral person, I want to make sure the right thing is done. But it's my job to make the agreement as written." |