Oil spill roundup: Wed., Dec. 1: News. Politics. Media

+ “A senior administration official” says the White House won’t support offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico “for at least the next seven years.”

+ BP has reached a $37 million deal with an Alabama condo developer over losses related to the spill. The company itself, not the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, negotiated the deal. “BP is entering into this agreement because of the unique size and economic impact this project will have on the area,” a spokesman told the Associated Press.

+ Most big-ticket oil spill claims are not getting paid in full, according to claims facility data obtained by Alabama’s governor. More after the jump.

+ The Unified Command has announced plans to begin a “pilot program” to remove thousands of anchors that held boom in place. Apparently, when the boom was removed, it was simply cut loose, leaving the anchors on the sea floor.

+ BP spent $1.86 million lobbying the federal government during the third quarter of this year on issues including its response to the spill.

+ An L-shaped area covering 4,200 miles north and west of the spill site remains closed to royal red shrimping, out of an “abundance of caution,” after a shrimper pulled up tar balls in his net last week. The fishing community is worried about how the closure will affect perceptions of gulf seafood.

Alabama’s big-ticket oil spill claims not getting fully compensated
The Mobile Press-Register reports:

Less than half of Alabama oil spill claims for more than $100,000 and no claims of more than $1 million were paid in full, according to data received Monday by Gov. Bob Riley from claims czar Ken Feinberg.

This follows reports last week that claims of more than $500,000 were subject to different standards than smaller claims. It may not bode well for some of the six- and seven-figure claims from Florida hotels, especially in un-oiled parts of the state. (I’ll be asking the claims facility for more details.)

As of Nov. 30, the claims facility has paid 19 claims in Florida worth more than $500,000, totaling just over $18 million.

That’s out of 15,601 business claims filed from this state. Most of those paid have been far less. More than two-thirds of the business claims received less than $25,000, according to statistics from the facility.

Alabama has far fewer business claims, but the payments have been larger on average. The details of the information received by that state’s governor (and posted online by the Press-Register) can be found here.