US COURT SAYS BP MUST INDEMNIFY HALLIBURTON FOR SOME CLAIMS

US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans has ruled that Halliburton is not liable for certain pollution claims stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that followed the April 2010 sinking of the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig, ruling that BP must indemnify Halliburton for third-party compensatory claims under their contract. Halliburton performed cementing services for BP on the Macondo field well. The court found that BP must indemnify Halliburton for claims arising from pollution that did not originate from Halliburton equipment situated on land or above the water, even in the event that Halliburton is found to be grossly negligent. The bulk of the Macondo spill emerged from a rupture around 5,000 under the surface. Halliburton could still be liable for punitive damages, as well as civil penalties under the US Clean Water Act. Judge Barbier made a similar ruling last week, finding that BP must indemnify rig-owner Transocean Ltd for certain claims. The two rulings thwart BP's attempt to shift around $15bn of spill-related costs to the other two companies.