Oil giant BP plc (BP,BP.L) Friday said that its total cost of response to the MC252 oil well incident, which caused a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, reached about $8 billion to date.
The amount includes 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 London-based oil company had announced an agreed package of measures on June 16. This included the creation of a $20 billion escrow account to satisfy certain obligations arising from the oil and gas spill.
According to BP, the MC252 well has been shut-in since July 15. The company conducted a pressure testing after the completion of cementing operations on the well on August 5. The pressure testing indicated that there is an effective cement plug in the casing.
Further BP said that the oil outflow from the MC252 well has been stopped and no new oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico since July 15. The company hasn't recovered any volumes of oily liquid since July 21. However, as part of Unified Command, BP continues to conduct overflights and other reconnaissance to search for oil on the surface.
BP also said that it performed the last controlled burn operation on July 20. Throughout the response, BP carried out a total of 411 controlled burns, removing an estimated 265,000 barrels of oil from the open water. The company's skimming operations recovered a total of over 826,000 barrels of oily liquid.
Further, BP said that it has deployed about 3.5 million feet of containment boom in response to the oil spill. Currently, 1.72 million feet of containment boom, about 28,400 personnel, more than 4,050 vessels, and dozens of aircraft remain engaged in the response effort.
BP also stated that on August 23, it transferred the processing of all oil well incident-related claims by individuals and businesses to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) under the leadership of Ken Feinberg, an American attorney specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Since then, over 42,000 claims have been submitted to the GCCF, with over 4,900 claims totaling some $38.5 million being paid. Prior to the transfer, BP made 127,000 claims payments, totaling about $399 million.
BP said it continues to work with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of the federal government.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Wednesday that BP spent over $93 million on advertising over the three-month period following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, more than three times the amount spent by the company on ads in the same period last year.
On the NYSE, BP cosed Thursday's trading at $36.57, up $0.41, on a volume of 8 million shares.
On the LSE, BP.L is trading 393.70 pence, up 1.10 pence or 0.28%, on a volume of 6.59 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.