Oil giant BP has said that a catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill has cost the British company US$8 billion so far.
"The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately eight billion dollars, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, static kill and cementing, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs," BP said in a statement.
The April 20 spill was triggered when an explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and sinking the huge offshore platform two days later. The flow of oil into the sea was not fully stemmed until July 15.
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BP has forecast that the disaster will cost a total of about 32.2 billion dollars, after pushing the group into a 16.9-billion-dollar loss in the second quarter -- which was the biggest quarterly loss in British corporate history.
The statement reiterated that BP had agreed to set up a 20-billion-dollar compensation fund for residents affected by the spill.
