BP Bill Tops $2.35 Billion

BP said Friday that it had already spent $2.35 billion dealing with the fallout from the oil spill, from cleanup operations, to containment of the well, and paying out many of the early claims. And the company’s spending is far from over. A spokesman added that it was still "too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident." In the short term, however, BP is hoping to spend its money much more efficiently. Though it collected 16,830 barrels of oil on Wednesday, it says that it may be able to capture up to 53,000 barrels a day by next week, thanks to the successful reinstallation of a cap on the well. But in the meantime, oil continues to wash up on the Gulf Coast. On Thursday, Florida officials closed a beach for the first time due to the spill—a quarter-mile stretch of Pensacola Beach near Alabama—as thick pools of brown oil formed on the shore.