BP Plc’ share price down, 2010 Gulf spill payments appeal gets a rejection by the U.S. Supreme Court

The hopes of BP Plc to limit the compensations amount for its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 have suffered a serious blow by the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected the companys plea to review to the settlement.

Geoff Morrell, a spokesman of BP, said in a written statement, cited by the Wall Street Journal: “We will therefore continue to advocate for the investigation of suspicious or implausible claims and to fight fraud where it is uncovered.”

The $9.7-billion settlement of BP over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was rejected to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The arguments of the U.K.-based company that the settlement is to provide some businesses, which were not actually harmed and are not able to prove any economic damages as a result of the spill, with compensations, were turned down. The decision of the Supreme Court allows the victims of the oil spill to go on with collecting billions of dollars.

BP said during the appeal, cited by the Wall Street Journal: “Those awards include $76 million to entities whose entire losses unquestionably had nothing to do with the spill, such as lawyers who lost their law licenses and warehouses that burned down before the spill occurred.”

The company had originally estimated the class action settlement to about $7.8 billion. However, it now claims that the settlement will cost “significantly higher” than $9.7 billion.

The Fifth U.S. Coircuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments of BP in March, and said that the company had agreed to the terms in exchange for avoiding trial. The businesses in the region, however, were not required to prove the fact that they have suffered losses due to the oil spill.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Judge Leslie Southwick wrote: “There is nothing fundamentally unreasonable about what BP accepted but now wishes it had not.”

Now, the Courts ruling to hear the case is considered an indication that it would use the BP case in order to make a broader ruling on class actions.

BP Plc lost 1.99% to trade at GBX 409.00 per share as of 9:32 GMT today, marking a one-year drop of 14.22%. The company is valued at GBP 77.86 billion.