BP vice president says company has paid 18,000 claims totaling more than $48M

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BP says it has paid more than $48M in claims

PENSACOLA, Fla. — An official for BP PLC says the oil giant has paid 18,000 claims along the Gulf Coast totaling more than $48 million.

Darryl Willis is the BP vice president overseeing the claims process. He said Sunday in Florida’s Escambia County that the company has received 37,000 claims so far.

He says the unpaid claims are still being processed and that none have been denied. He says “we’ll pay until we’re done paying.”

President Barack Obama warned last week during a trip to Louisiana that he didn’t want BP “nickel-and-diming people” who claim to have lost money because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.