( CNN ) -- BP appealed Friday for a halt to settlements to those affected by the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill , because of what it says are `` hundreds of millions of dollars , and what could reach billions of dollars , in awards to claims asserting fictitious losses . '' `` Any such payment will constitute irreparable harm , '' the energy giant argued . `` Therefore , an expedited hearing is necessary . '' Such a hearing is now scheduled for March 22 , after the court granted BP 's emergency motion . The legal debate is part of the widespread fallout from the oil spill -- the worst in U.S. history -- which began after a rig explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf . Eleven workers died . Roughly 205 million gallons of oil spewed into the sea for nearly three months before a cap was placed on the BP-owned Macondo well , nearly a mile beneath the surface . Since then , the oil company has promised and paid out some settlement funds , while fighting others in court . Earlier this year , U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier Jr. considered BP 's contention that a January 15 decision by the claims administrator about how settlements would be distributed . BP had argued that the set-up would produce `` absurd '' results . And yet Barbier sided against BP in a March 5 decision . `` The court adopts Class Counsel 's interpretation as it is most in line with the rest of the settlement agreement , '' the judge wrote .
BP has been a target since the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill . Earlier this month , a judge sided against BP in ongoing settlement proceedings . BP says some payments ` ` will constitute irreparable damage '' to the company .