According to a new report, the damage assessment by the federal government into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 must include wider economic and social impacts.

The National Research Council said that the federal government will not be able to account of the environmental destruction using its current methods. It said that the government efforts does not include the full extent of the environmental and economic losses in Gulf waters and coastal areas, fisheries, marine life, and the deep sea caused by the April 2010 disaster.

The report, which was compiled by a team of 16 scientists at the request of Congress, asked for a complete overhaul into the methods of assessing damage to the environment following such disastrous incidences. They said that the report could still influence the settlement of environmental claims against BP by the federal government and five states in the country.

"The full value of losses resulting from the spill cannot be captured, without consideration of changes in ecosystem services – the benefits delivered to society through natural processes," the report said.

BP had said in December that it will pay about $7.8 billion to meet the economic and medical claims from more than 100,000 businesses and individuals who were affected by the country’s worst offshore oil spill.