Hilary Whiteman
CNN
5/27/2010
London, England (CNN) — As the BP oil spill continues to blacken waters in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, Lloyd’s of London has issued its first estimate of net claims from the disaster.
The world’s largest insurance market says total claims from explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig could be between $300 million and $600 million.
The figure was based on information from an unknown number of Lloyd’s 78 syndicates with exposure to the disaster, including the limits of their individual contracts.
It doesn’t include losses outside the Lloyds market or those carried by BP, which was self- insured when the rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and spilling millions of gallons of oil into the sea.
On Sunday, BP said to date it had spent around $760 million on its emergency efforts, including the “cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs.” It said it was too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.
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