BP Estimates Cost Of 2010 Gulf Oil Spill At $61.6 Billion

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil giant BP PLC has put a final price tag on what its catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill cost the company, and it's a hefty sum: $61.6 billion.

The company issued the estimate Thursday, the first time it has put a total cost on the catastrophe.

BP said it expects to spend a total of $44 billion after tax deductions are factored in. The new estimate included $5.2 billion in new pre-tax costs.

In 2010, one of the company's deep-sea wells blew out off the coast of Louisiana, leading to the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Eleven rig workers were killed in the explosions and millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf for 87 days.

BP said the cost estimate included all "remaining material liabilities."

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