NEW ORLEANS (AP) BP is trying to persuade a federal appeals court that it should throw out a judge's approval of the company's multibillion-dollar settlement related to the Gulf oil spill if a separate appeal is unsuccessful.
Last year, BP joined plaintiffs' attorneys in urging U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to give the deal his final approval. On Friday, however, the company's lawyers argued in a court filing that Barbier's more recent interpretation of settlement terms have allowed businesses to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for inflated or fictitious claims.
In July, BP asked a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Barbier's rulings governing business payouts.
BP says it would still support Barbier's approval of the settlement if that separate appeal is successful.
