BP SUES HALLIBURTON FOR ALL ITS GULF OF MEXICO SPILL DAMAGES

BP has sued Halliburton in a federal court in New Orleans for all of the former's legal costs and damages as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in April 2010. The oil company set aside up to $40bn to cover its costs and has already paid out $21bn. Halliburton was the foam cement contractor for the Macondo oil-well, the failure of which caused an explosion on the semi-submersible Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Next month a trial in a New Orleans federal court is scheduled to begin that will determine liability for the oil spill. Houston-based Halliburton claims that its services to BP required the oil company to indemnify it, while BP said in its suit filed yesterday that Halliburton's level of misconduct as cement contractor was such that it eliminated any indemnity. Halliburton has claimed that it was the actions of BP employees that caused the explosions, rather than any structural flaw in the foam cement that it designed and pumped into the oil well base. Cameron International, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Mitsui's MOEX have settled with BP, while Halliburton and Transocean have not. The self-insured nature of BP's business means that any deal reached by BP provides greater certainty over losses for insurers of the counterparties. Halliburton is reported to have some $600m in general liability insurance covering the 2010 event.