BP Asks Court to Reject Interpretation of Oil Spill Settlement

Claims money being funneled to claimants with "fictitious" damages

BP Plc has billions of dollars in the balance as it asks a U.S. appeals court to reject a claims administrator's interpretation of the company's partial settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The company contends the administrator, Patrick Juneau, is approving millions of dollars in "fictitious" payments for business losses based on what BP believes is a flawed interpretation of the agreement reached with victims' lawyers in 2012. These interpretations have already prompted the company to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the estimated $7.8 billion cost of the settlement and may force it to pay billions of dollars more than expected, BP said in court papers.