by Chen Yu, Chen Ruwei
HOUSTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- 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.
