BP plc (NYSE:BP), Europe's second-biggest oil company, retreated after losing its appeal to alter the settlement that doles out money related to the 2010 Gulf oil spill.
BP's American depositary receipts lost 1.2 percent to $48.61 at 9:34 a.m. in New York.
BP had claimed in its appeal that the administration of a 2012 settlement agreement was faulty because it allowed claimants without actual damages to join in.
But a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 10 affirmed a federal judge's approval of the multi-billion dollar settlement between the oil company and businesses and individuals who lost money and property in the spill.
Two out of three judges on the appeals court panel rejected BP's arguments. The court's findings said that the company had failed to explain "how this court or the district court should identify or even discern the existence of 'claimants that have suffered no cognizable injury.'"
The ruling is a blow to the company's attempt to curb payouts to what it says are undeserving claimants.
BP said in an emailed statement on Jan. 11 that it was assessing its legal options following the court's decision.
"BP will continue to press its position on the proper interpretation of the settlement agreement's provisions requiring a causal nexus between a claimant's injury and the spill," BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
BP had originally expected that its settlement in the case would cost $7.8 billion. As of late October it had increased this estimate to $9.2 billion, and said this sum could grow "significantly higher" with billions of dollars already having been paid out to claimants who range from hotel owners to oyster gatherers.
Amongst the claims against which BP has protested are one for $21 million from a Louisiana rice mill which is located 40 miles from the coast and which earned more revenue in 2010 than in any of the previous three years.
The company has paid out more than $26 billion for cleanup and various damage claims, and it still faces potentially massive liability under federal environmental law.
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