BP is close to being forced to restart contentious compensation payments under its settlement for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster , after a federal appeals court rejected its call to keep an injunction in place. The Fifth Circuit appeals court on Tuesday denied a request from BP to maintain a block on payments to businesses while the US Supreme Court decided whether to take on the case over the settlement. The company said it was “disappointed” by the decision, and planned a second appeal to the Supreme Court to try to avoid being forced to resume the disputed payments. BP argues that the deal it agreed in 2012 has been misinterpreted by Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed claims administrator, to allow businesses that suffered no loss as a result of the oil spill to receive compensation. Payments for business losses were suspended by a court order last October, […]

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