BP says it has so far spent roughly $8 billion US responding to the disastrous oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

A remotely operated vehicle near the site of the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico is shown in this picture captured from a BP live video feed this week. (BP/Reuters)

The company says the total included $399 million paid to settle 127,000 claims from businesses and others affected by the oil spill.

The oil company said more than 28,000 people and 4,000 vessels are still engaged in responding to the spill.

The well blew out when the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and setting off the massive spill.

On Thursday, engineers removed a temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the blown-out well in mid-July. The cap was removed as a prelude to raising the massive piece of equipment underneath that failed to prevent the spill.

The government wants to replace the failed blowout preventer first to deal with any pressure that is caused when a relief well that BP has been drilling intersects the blown-out well.

Once that intersection occurs, BP is expected to use mud and cement to plug the blown-out well for good from the bottom.

More oil is not expected to leak into the sea, but crews are on standby with collection vessels just in case.