Global General

BP says claim payments exceed $100 million

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-20 13:44

Leaking oil is seen in the image grabbed from the BP's live video feed monitoring the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, June 15, 2010. [Xinhua/BP LIVE FEED]

HOUSTON - British energy giant BP said Saturday its claim payments related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has exceeded $100 million.

BP, operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which explode late April and triggered a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said in a news release it has paid $104 million to residents along the Gulf coast.

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The company said it has issued more than 31,000 checks in the past seven weeks.

"Our focus has been on getting money into the hands of fishermen, shrimpers, condo owners and others who have not been able to earn income due to the spill," said Darryl Willis, of the BP claims team.

"We have also been addressing the larger, more complex claims and have been successful in sending more checks to commercial entities," he said.

A 1,000-member claim team is working around the clock to receive and process claims, BP said. It has received about 64,000 claims to date.

BP has agreed to put $20 billion into a third-party claim fund to pay the victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company promised to initially make payments of $5 billion into the new fund this year, which will be followed by a payment of $1.25 billion per quarter in 2011 and beyond until a total of $20 billion has been paid in.

A team of government scientists charged with studying the spill rate estimated that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day are emanating from the well.