BP: Payments To Gulf Residents, Businesses Reach $201 Million

16th Jul 2010 18:38

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) on Friday said payments to residents and businesses along the Gulf of Mexico affected by the oil spill have reached $201 million. The company said in all, 114,000 claims have been submitted, but more than 61,000 of those lack enough information for BP to make a payment or those who filed the claims have been unreachable. BP said more than 32,000 have received one or more payments in the past 10 weeks. The largest groups include fishermen, who have received about $32 million, and shrimpers, who have received $18 million. In addition, about $77 million has been paid for loss of income to a variety of occupations including deckhands and employees in the seafood industry. This week, BP has sought to contact those who have filed a claim but have yet to provide documentation to support it. "We strongly encourage those who have not yet sent in their supporting documents to do so," said Darryl Willis of the BP claims team. The U.K. oil giant has been under intense pressure to successfully contain oil that has been spewing from a broken well, which began in April after a deep-water drilling rig exploded and sank. The spill has hurt the region's fishing and tourism industries. A new cap on the well has shown it can completely halt oil from entering the Gulf. BP's American depositary shares fell 3.6% to $37.52 in recent trading amid a broad market decline. They are up 30% this month, but still down 35% this year. -By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 16, 2010 13:38 ET (17:38 GMT)