By Jonathan Stempel
April 15 (Reuters) - The administrator overseeing a BP Plc fund to compensate people and businesses claiming theywere harmed by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill said onWednesday more than $5 billion has been paid out.
A total of $5.037 billion has been paid to 62,162 claimants,the administrator, Patrick Juneau, said in a statement on hiswebsite for spill claims.
The money is being paid under a 2012 settlement tied to theexplosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11workers and caused the largest U.S. offshore oil spill. Thefifth anniversary of the disaster will be April 20.
BP originally said it expected to pay $7.8 billion toresolve claims under the settlement but by February of this yearhad boosted its estimate to $9.9 billion.
The London-based oil company had long complained that Juneauwas paying out too much, including to claimants who suffered noharm.
But last month, BP ended a bid to oust Juneau, citing stepshe had taken to reduce fraud.
According to Juneau, more than half of the payouts so farhave compensated businesses that suffered economic losses, witha significant percentage also going to the seafood industry. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by SteveOrlofsky)
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