BP oil spill claims czar says recovery in 3 years

NEW ORLEANS – The administrator of BP's $20 billion Gulf oil spill compensation fund says he expects the region to recover within three years. The fund will use that assessment to determine how much to pay spill victims in final settlements.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg said Wednesday that the Gulf Coast Claims Facility used "various data and expert reports" to determine that a 30 percent recovery is likely in 2011 with full recovery in 2012. He notes, however, that oysters will take longer.

Final settlement offers to those who lost revenue following BP PLC's spill off Louisiana will be twice their documented 2010 losses. Oyster harvesters will be offered four times their documented 2010 losses.

The fund has so far paid about $3.3 billion to 168,000 claimants, but many are still waiting for any money.