British oil giant BP has agreed to pay 340 million U.S. dollars for early restoration projects in the U.S. states affected by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

The money was part of the 1 billion dollars that BP agreed to pay for early restoration after the spill, The New York Times reported, citing Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Most of the money would be used to restore four barrier islands that act as hurricane buffers for Louisiana's mainland and create two fish research hatcheries in the state, Jindal told a news conference in Lafitte, Louisiana.

The money is a down payment on restoration to be paid for through the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, an amount that will be decided by the federal judge who also will set fines under the Clean Water Act, according to the report.

Among BP's many liabilities arising out of the 2010 oil spill is the Natural Resources Damage Assessment process that is part of determining the full impact of the disaster on the Gulf and how best to fix the situation.

The blowout of BP's Macondo well triggered an explosion that killed 11 rig workers and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP had agreed to pay 4.5 billion dollars in fines and make other payments to the U.S. government and plead guilty to misconduct and negligence charges in connection with the spill.

The company still faces the prospect of having to pay billions more in civil penalties over the amount of oil that spilled. A trail had begun to determine if BP was guilty of gross negligence.

Under the country's Clean Water Act, a polluter pays a minimum of 1,100 dollars per barrel of spilled oil. The fines nearly quadruple to about 4,300 dollars per barrel for companies found guilty of gross negligence.

If U.S. federal and state officials are successful in proving gross negligence against BP in its handling of the spill, the fines against the London-based oil giant will be four times as high as under a lower standard of liability. Endi

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