BP's spill costs reach US$9.5 bln
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British oil giant BP said Sunday its costs to clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico amounted to about US$9.5 billion.
That figure included the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, static kill and cementing, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs, the company said in a statement.
BP in June announced an agreed package of measures, including the creation of a 20 billion-dollar escrow account to satisfy certain obligations arising from the oil and gas spill.
Meanwhile, the company said it has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in claims for damages to Gulf Coast residents.
U.S. officials announced Sunday that the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was "effectively killed," after a weekend of pouring cement into the base of the well. Pressure tests show that the cement was holding, they said.
The confirmation that the well is dead marks the end of the saga that began on April 20, when an explosion on BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Bob Dudley, the incoming BP chief executive, said last week that the spill eventually could cost the company 32 billion.
