US Supreme Court rejects BP appeal in Gulf oil spill

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from British energy giant BP and its US partner Anadarko to appeal massive compensation payouts stemming from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP had petitioned America's top court in May last year after lower courts in 2012 ordered it to pay billions of dollars to residents and businesses impacted by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf. BP had partnered with Anadarko in operating the facility.

BP contested that the terms of the ruling required it to compensate firms for losses not related to the spill or that occurred before the disaster.

But the Supreme Court rejected the request for an appeal, meaning the lower court decision stands.

The courts have not yet determined the final amounts, but BP could have to pay $13.7 billion, while Anadarko's payout might be more than $1 billion.

BP and Anadarko respectively held 65 percent and 25 percent of the Macondo drilling site that was being tapped by the Deepwater, whose explosion in April 2010 caused the worst oil spill in US history.