On Satuday, BP announced that it has paid $104 million to residents along the Gulf Coast for claims filed as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has issued more than 31,000 checks in the past seven weeks."Our focus has been on getting money into the hands of fishermen, shrimpers, condo owners and others who have not been able to earn income due to the spill," said Darryl Willis, of the BP claims team. "We have also been addressing the larger, more complex claims and have been successful in sending more checks to commercial entities."

BP has received about 64,000 claims to date. A 1,000-member claim team is working around the clock to receive and process claims. There are 33 field offices set up in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and BP is accepting calls through an 800 number as well as accepting applications online. BP has received about 84,000 calls on the claims alone.

The average time from filing a claim to checks being issued is 4 days for individuals and seven days for more complex business claims that have provided supporting documentation. Willis said BP's commitment is to move expeditiously and fairly to meet the needs of the residents of the Gulf Coast.

Claims can be filed by phone at 1-800-440-0858 (TTY device 1-800-573-8249), on the web at www.bp.com/claims, or by visiting one of our claims offices across the Gulf Coast.