BP court move to halt Gulf payouts

[jimmy olsen]

I hope the court tells them to go fuck themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24218138

Oil giant BP has asked a US court to halt payments from its settlement deal over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid concerns about fraud control.

The blast killed 11 workers and released an estimated four million barrels of oil into the gulf.

It is the firm's latest move to stop or delay payments under a financial settlement programme.

It had expected payouts to total $7.8bn (£4.9bn), but says this has been driven up by excessive fees and bogus claims.

BP has faced about $42.4bn in charges since the disaster aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which triggered the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

It has made two previous, unsuccessful attempts, to halt compensation payments.

It now says all payments should be halted until the court-appointed claims administrator puts efficiency and accounting controls into place.

"There is no assurance that dishonest and illegitimate claims are being detected and denied," said BP spokesman Geoff Morrell.

"Payment of such claims would cause BP irreparable injury."

The company believes the existing payout formula is too generous and compensates people who were not harmed.

It is waiting for decisions by a federal appeals court on several challenges it has made to the settlement and its payment formula.

BP says there is a risk that hundreds of millions of dollars in claims payments could be fraudulent.

[Ideologue]

Well, they may have a point.

[CountDeMoney]

It now says all payments should be halted until the court-appointed claims administrator puts efficiency and accounting controls into place.

That's pretty funny.

[Admiral Yi]

Well, they may have a point.

What I've read suggests they do.

[CountDeMoney]

Of course.

[Ideologue]

Well, they may have a point.

What I've read suggests they do.

I'm just saying, if we nationalized them, it wouldn't really be an issue.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm just saying, if we nationalized them, it wouldn't really be an issue.

How's that?  Then we'd be the ones on the hook to the con men and hustlers.

[garbon]

I'm just saying, if we nationalized them, it wouldn't really be an issue.

How's that?  Then we'd be the ones on the hook to the con men and hustlers.

Rather than just electing them to office.

[Ideologue]

I'm just saying, if we nationalized them, it wouldn't really be an issue.

How's that?  Then we'd be the ones on the hook to the con men and hustlers.

The distortions inherent to an adversary process would be lost, because the government would seek to care for the injuries caused by the Gulf spill in a genuine way.  Worst case, the harm would be socialized, which, in a catastrophe like this, is the best way to go about it.  We all benefit from British American Petroleum's oil, we will all share in the costs.

I don't think there'd be much perverse incentivization, because the voting public still wouldn't be too fond of oil wells exploding and causing giant spills.

[Admiral Yi]

No Ide.  Worst case there would be massive fraud on top.

[dps]

the government would seek to care for the injuries caused by the Gulf spill in a genuine way. 

Lol.

[Ideologue]

Well, not the government you vote for.

[garbon]

the government would seek to care for the injuries caused by the Gulf spill in a genuine way. 

Lol.

I often feel that Obama cares for me in a genuine way.

[Ideologue]

If Obama had a son, he'd have blue hair.

[garbon]

I miss that.