Oil giant BP said today the cost of its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had hit $2 billion and that it had paid out $105 million in damages to those affected by the disaster.
BP added in a statement that it rejected claims by its partner in the oil well, Anadarko Petroleum, that it had been negligent in the way it executed the well.
The company agreed last week to place $20 billion in a fund to compensate victims of the oil spill.
BP estimates that a worst-case scenario rate for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be about 100,000 barrels of oil per day, according to an internal company document released yesterday by a senior US congressional Democrat.
Its estimate of up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day is far higher than the current US government estimate of up to 60,000 barrels gushing daily from the ruptured offshore well into the sea.
BP spokesman Toby Odone said the document appeared to be genuine but the estimate applied only to a situation in which a key piece of equipment called a blowout preventer is removed. "Since there are no plans to remove the blowout preventer, the number is irrelevant," he said.
The British energy giant, still struggling to stop a leak that began on April 20th and is causing an economic and environmental disaster along the US Gulf Coast, is planning to raise $50 billion to cover the cost of the largest oil spill in US history, the Sunday Times reported.
The oil spill is now in its 62nd day and has dealt a blow to fishing and tourism industries across four Gulf states, soiling coastlines that are a playground for tourists and vital habitat for wildlife.
The amount of oil spurting from the well has been a matter of considerable controversy in the past two months, with critics saying BP consistently understated the flow rate.
The internal BP document, which is undated, was released by US Representative Ed Markey, chairman of a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The newspaper, without citing any sources, said BP planned to raise $10 billion from a bond sale, $20 billion from banks and $20 billion from asset sales over the next two years to cover the cost of the spill.
BP said last week it would suspend dividend payments to its shareholders and increase the pace of asset sales to $10 billion this year to offset liabilities from the spill, which began after an explosion on an offshore rig that killed 11 workers.
The Financial Times reported BP is considering doubling the $10 billion asset sale programme as part of a push to strengthen the company's liquidity as it comes under financial pressure.
BP said 21,040 barrels of oi leaking from the well was collected by its siphoning systems on Saturday. A large amount of oil continues to leak into the sea from the ruptured well a mile below the ocean surface despite the BP containment systems.
Reuters