BP
said Wednesday it would issue at least an estimated $60 million in
advance payments next month to workers on the Gulf Coast who have lost
income because of the oil spill.
It has paid $256 million to date, including $30 million the
past week. The company has received 133,000 claims and issued more than
83,000 checks since it began making payments in May, it said.
BP
will start making August advance payments this week. Claimants will
receive their check about 30 days after they got their July payment.
The transition of the claims process to Ken Feinberg next
month will not affect advance payments for the period, BP
said. Feinberg was tapped by the Obama administration and BP
to administer the claims process for the fund the company created in
June to compensate spill victims. He previously administered a $7
billion government fund to compensate families of victims of the terror
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
BP's
American depositary shares were down 1.2% at $37.54 in recent trading.
They are down nearly 40% since the spill started in April.