BP Notches Win In Bid To Block Settlement Payments

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily suspended BP oil spill settlement payments to businesses while he reconsiders the company's arguments against compensating those that cannot trace losses directly to the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

Judge Carl Barbier issued an order Thursday noting the claims office will continue taking and processing business claims but won't make final decisions or payments until the matter is settled.

BP is trying to block what could be hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to Gulf Coast businesses.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Barbier must reconsider BP PLC's arguments.