BP loses bid to rehear oil spill ruling

A US appeal court has refused to reconsider its previous ruling that businesses do not have to prove they were harmed directly by BP’s 2010 Gulf Of Mexico oil spill to collect settlement payments.

The decision by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals could be a step towards resuming a claims process that was suspended after a district court ruling in December.

BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said the company was considering its legal options.

The oil giant had asked the full appeal court in New Orleans to rehear the case after a three-judge panel’s March ruling, but the court voted 8-5 against a rehearing.

The action preserves a district court ruling that BP had agreed in 2012 to pay claims without requiring proof that losses were directly caused by the spill.

The oil spill followed an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig which killed 11 people.