Federal Appeals Court Rules BP Oil Spill Claims Payments Must Continue

A federal appeals court panel says BP PLC must resume paying claims while it asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review its settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on Wednesday that it would not put a stop to payments while BP appeals an earlier 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision. That decision says businesses, under the settlement with BP, do not have to prove they were directly harmed by the spill to collect money.

BP later asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put a stop to those payments.

The claims fund was set up after a BP well off the Louisiana coast blew out in April 2010.