British oil giant BP on Friday announced a second 25-million-U.S.-dollar grant to the U.S. state of Florida to help it battle the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Leaking oil and gas are seen during dispersant operations at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in this screen grab taken from a BP live video feed June 11, 2010. Britain stuck up for beleaguered BP Plc on Friday against American criticism over the massive oil spill that U.S. scientists said was far bigger than previously thought. [Xinhua]

The grant is in addition to a previous 25 million block grant the company announced on May 5 to help accelerate the implementation of the state's Area Contingency Plan, and a 25 million tourism grant announced on May 17, BP said in a statement.

 

"Working in partnership with the state is important to an effective spill response. So we are pleased to make these additional funds available per the Governor's request," said Doug Suttles, BP's Chief Operating Officer.

BP has spent 1.4 billion U.S. dollars since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in late April, Raymond Dempsey, the Vice President of Strategy for BP America, told a Senate hearing on Thursday.

That figure includes the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. It excludes the 360 million in funds for the Louisiana barrier islands construction project.

Also on Friday, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the commander for the spill response, said the U.S. government has so far spent 130 million to 140 million on the oil cleanup costs, drawn from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.