Administrators of the $US20 billion ($24 million) Gulf of Mexico oil spill compensation fund have moved to speed up payments to victims.

Government administrator Kenneth Feinberg says the changes will allow faster lump sum emergency payments, improving on smaller previous monthly disbursements.

The action follows complaints about the slow pace of the compensation process.

BP established the compensation fund last month in a bid to satisfy all legitimate claims. The oil giant says it has since paid more than $US128 million ($152 million) to victims.

The US House of Representatives last week passed the first major bill related to the spill, voting to provide more generous entitlements to families of workers killed or injured in the disaster.