BP statement on U.S. Supreme Court decision not to review causation issue in settlement

Geoff Morrell, BP America's Senior Vice President of U.S. Communications and External Affairs, issued the following statement today in response to the United States Supreme Court's denial of BP's request to review the Fifth Circuit decisions relating to the compensation of claims for losses with no apparent connection to the Deepwater Horizon spill.

When it became apparent that the settlement agreement was being misinterpreted, we sought a remedy in the courts.  We were successful before the Fifth Circuit in correcting the “matching” accounting rules fashioned in error by the claims program, and we are hopeful that the new policies will improve the program’s compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement.  Unfortunately, however, the Supreme Court has declined to review the lower court decisions relating to causation. 

We nevertheless remain concerned that the program has made awards to claimants that suffered no injury from the spill – and that the lawyers for these claimants have unjustly profited as a result.  On behalf of all our stakeholders, we will therefore continue to advocate for the investigation of suspicious or implausible claims and to fight fraud where it is uncovered.  In doing so, we hope to prevent further exploitation of our commitment to compensating all those legitimately harmed by the spill.