25 Aug 2011

Gulf of Mexico payments by BP to date

10:10 am on 25 August 2011

BP has paid more than $US5 billion to 204,434 victims of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

The payments amount to roughly 25% of a $US20 billion fund, which was set up in August 1910 ago following the incident in April 2010.

So far, 947,892 claims have been filed from all 50 American states and residents of 36 countries.

Nearly all of the successful claimants come from four states: Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

The claims process is to remain in place until August 2013.

Eleven men were killed on 20 April, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana.

According to government estimates, about 206 million gallons of oil flowed from the well before it was finally capped, more than 1km beneath the sea.