BP has suffered a decisive setback in its court battle to limit the cost of its settlement for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, leaving it with the option only of going to the US Supreme Court as a last chance to avoid billions of dollars of additional liabilities.
The Fifth Circuit appeals court in New Orleans on Monday rejected BP’s request for a full review of the company’s case, as it seeks to establish that the compensation settlement it agreed with plaintiffs’ lawyers in 2012 is being interpreted unfairly.
The ruling means BP has now nearly run out of road in its attempt to stop the cost of the settlement soaring far above the $7.8bn that it originally predicted.