BP protests 'absurd' Gulf oil spill compensation
BP is appealing to U.S. courts to limit compensation payouts for those affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
According to the BBC, the oil giant considers a number of claims submitted to the fund set up after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of New Mexico as "fictitious" and "absurd." However, as the fund's administrator is freely paying out, the company believes that the $7.8bn pot set aside in 2012 will not be enough -- and BP is not happy with the prospect of paying more.
See also: Gulf oil spill: another record settlement
In November last year, BP agreed to settle with U.S. prosecutors for $4.5 billion in penalties after an offshore oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and rupturing a well head, which sent an estimated four million barrels of oil into the Gulf. As part of the clean-up, BP agreed to pay compensation to roughly 100,000 individuals and firms that claimed the spill affected their livelihoods.
However, the political wrangling continues. BP now says that current payments are too generous, and a number of losses "do not exist in reality," including a $9.7m payout given to a construction company 200 miles away from the sea.
Via: BBC
Image credit: BP
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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com