BP says Gulf oil spill costs reach $1.6b

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.

"The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately 1.6 billion dollars, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs," BP said in a statement.

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.