The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down an appeal by the London-based BP oil company to curb its payouts to businesses that have not been able to prove their losses were linked to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In 2012 BP, or British Petroleum, signed a settlement to compensate businesses affected by the oil spill caused after an explosion on its Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and spewed four million barrels of oil into the gulf waters.
The oil company had estimated $7.8 billion dollars in claims payouts, but now says the costs could top $9.7 billion.
The Supreme Court did not comment on its decision Monday.
Some material for this report came from AP.