Oil spill may cost insurers $1.5 billion in claims

The growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by a leaking BP Plc well, may cost the insurance industry as much as $1.5 billion in claims, according to Transatlantic Holdings Inc. Transatlantic, the reinsurer divested by American International Group Inc., said its own costs from the spill may be less than $15 million, according to the company's earnings conference call held earlier today.