The row over the BP oil spill lingers on

The US government has reported that 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked from the destroyed Deepwater Horizon oil well after the explosion that killed eleven workers in April. The well has now been capped but it is officially the largest oil leak ever.

The spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now cost BP an estimated $6.1bn which includes costs for the spill containment, the spill response, the relief drilling and solving the problems caused by the damaged well. This sum of money also includes money spent on grants to those States hit by the spill and $319m compensation to those affected by the oil spill.

There are now over 30,000 people working on the spill response and clean-up, including those who are laying spill containment booms and dispersing the oil. But BP is now confident that no more oil is leaking. The company stated:

"BP believes the static kill and cementing procedures have been successful,"

It is estimated that approximately 25% of the oil is still at sea or on shore, with 24% dispersed, 25% evaporated or dissolved and the rest either recovered from the leak site or burned or skimmed.