Bermuda-based Oil Insurance Ltd., expects approximately $25 million in losses from damage to Gulf of Mexico oil platforms from Hurricane Ivan, the company said on Friday.

The Bermuda-based mutual, which is owned by most of the world?s large oil companies, said the damage was not as bad as first predicted because the hurricane, which swept through the southern US states ten days ago, kept to the east of the densest area for the platforms.

John Thomson, senior vice president for OIL in charge of claims, told business website CBS Marketwatch that ten members had reported damage and five platforms insured by the group were missing.

?At first Ivan had all the makings of a perfect storm, and we were prepared for Armageddon,? Mr. Thomson said. ?After it passed, we actually ended up with a surprisingly small amount of damage.?

Losses were also mitigated by the fact that platforms in the Gulf are generally older and smaller than in other areas of the world such as the North Sea, Thomson told the website.

?Most platforms are worth about $2 million to $10 million each,? he said. ?They?re almost cute.?

American International Group?s Oil Rig division and Zurich Global Energy, a unit of Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services, are other leading insurers in the market. Bermuda-based ACE Ltd. and XL Capital are also players.

The Minerals Management Service, a US government agency, said this week that Ivan destroyed seven fixed oil platforms, set five mobile offshore drilling units adrift and caused 13 pipeline leaks.

While specialty insurers of the energy sector are expected to pay many claims, losses will be considerably less than the $500 million caused by Hurricane Lili when it struck the region in 2002, said Phil LeGrone, claims research director at modelling firm Risk Management Solutions.

?Ivan passed over the eastern edge of oil-drilling areas in the Gulf,? Mr. LeGrone said. ?If it had shifted 60 miles west it would have been in a much denser area for platforms.?

Zurich Global Energy has been notified about several client losses, said Mel Causer, senior vice president in the firm?s exploration and production division.

?It?s going to be a fair-sized loss in dollar terms,? said Mr. Causer. ?However, if the storm had come through further west, we?d be talking about a whole different scenario.?

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