BP Oil Spill Claims Hit $1.6 Billion

BP said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had already cost it $1.6 billion and that it would begin operating an additional mechanism to capture more crude from the leaking well in the coming days.

London-based BP said in a statement on Monday that 51,000 damages claims had been submitted and that more than 26,500 payments, worth over $62 million, had been made.

The $1.6 billion includes only $60 million of $360 million the oil major has committed to building barrier islands off the Louisiana coast.

(Editing by Louise Heavens)