How much will the unfolding oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico eventually cost?

Though figures given by specialists vary largely, one thing is sure: the costs will be staggeringly huge, both for BP and the local Gulf of Mexico economies.

Some analysts put the cost at 3 billion U.S. dollars, some at 14 billion, and one politician even put it at over 100 billion.

People can hardly make a precise estimate at this stage on the ultimate costs since there are two important questions remaining unanswered: When will the leak be stopped and how much oil will wash ashore?

The length of the spill and the amount of oil washing ashore hold key to deciding how much harm the spill will do to local economies and the ecosystem, Peter R. Hartley, an economist at Rice University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

However, there have been studies already done looking at what is at stake for BP and the local economies, and the number is quite huge.

The four biggest industries in the Gulf of Mexico are oil, tourism, fishing and shipping, which account for some 234 billion U.S. dollars in economic activities each year, according to a study published by Texas A&M University Press.

Two-thirds of that amount is in the United States, and the remaining one third in Mexico. If the Gulf of Mexico was a country, it would be the 29th largest economy in the world. Now, the spill has put all the four pillar industries in peril.

Oil and gas, the largest of the four industries which generate 124 billion dollars or 53 percent of the total money, may ultimately be the one that lose the most because of the spill.

Under mounting pressure, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a six-month off-shore drilling ban after the outbreak of the spill. But some warn that the ban may hit the economy even harder than the oil spill.