BP has spent $2.35 billion in its response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said this morning.

'The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately $2.35 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs,' BP said.

The total costs, equivalent to £1.57 billion sterling, compared with a previous estimate of $2 billion that was given on Monday.

The company, which agreed a $20 billion fund to pay claims after White House arm-twisting, added that it was 'too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities associated with the incident.'

BP said that about 74,000 claims had been lodged, and that it had paid out a total of $126m, comprising 39,000 payments.

The troubled British energy giant has been trying to contain the oil spill since an explosion on its Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20 killed 11 people.

BP has faced intense political pressure from Washington over the spill, which is the worst man-made environmental disaster in US history. The group has faced spiralling costs for cleaning up the spill and compensating affected residents and businesses.

Meanwhile, BP resumed full siphoning operations from the ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well yesterday, but Florida was forced to close down popular tourist beaches at the height of the summer season as more crude washed ashore.

The vast slick has already hit the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but could spell disaster for Florida, one of the world's top tourist destinations with more than 80 million visitors a year.

At a time of high unemployment in other sectors, tourism in Florida generates more than a million jobs, bringing the state $65 billion in revenue in 2008.

Its shares price has crashed to a 13-year low point after the group ramped up the costs so to $2.35 billion.

The price of the shares has collapsed by more than 50% - wiping billions of dollars off BP's stock market value.

BP closed down 6.4% in London this evening.