June 5 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) has no specific pre-allocated budget amount to pay damage claims resulting from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but will pay all those "hurt, harmed or damaged" until all legitimate claims are satisfied, a BP executive said on Saturday.
BP America Vice President of Resources Darryl Willis said the company over the past 30 days had written damages claims checks totaling more than $46 million across the U.S. Gulf region, and he expected that to rise through June to "$84 million plus."
Asked during a conference call how much the British-based energy giant had set aside for economic damage claims, Willis said there was no pre-allocated budget for that.
"We will make these payments for as long as it takes and for as many people who have been hurt, harmed or damaged by this spill," he said, speaking from Orange Beach, Alabama.
"There is no budget, we'll do this until it's finished. We'll stay with it until people are able to return to their normal way of life on the Gulf Coast," Willis added.
BP, whose share price has lost about one-third of its value since the crisis began, has said it has already spent $1 billion on the disaster, which includes the growing cleanup bill.
Willis said 90 percent of the damages or income loss claims paid out so far had gone to individuals -- "primarily fishermen, shrimpers, oyster fishermen and crabbers."
The rest had gone to smaller businesses, and the company was also moving to respond to claims by medium- and large-sized businesses, he added.
"So far, we have not denied any claims," Willis said.
BP faces a U.S. criminal probe, several lawsuits, dwindling investor confidence and growing questions about its credit-worthiness, but Chief Executive Tony Hayward says it has plenty of money to meet its obligations. (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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