BP Blames Halliburton for Gulf Oil Spill
British Petroleum (BP) has asked a federal judge to punish Halliburton for destroying evidence from last year’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil giant’s act is the most recent in an ongoing exchange of accusations between the two companies.
BP claims that Halliburton deliberately disposed of test results that would have proven how responsible it was in the disastrous oil spill, according to CBS News.
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However this accusation comes after Halliburton filed two different lawsuits against BP in state court in Houston as well as federal court in New Orleans in September of 2011, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Both companies have established strong and continued accusations against each other.
In September Halliburton released a statement that it, “filed claims against BP in Texas state court for negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation,” on account of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
However, BP now claims that Halliburton lost evidence that demonstrated how the cement performed with the well while Halliburton maintained that such information was merely “gone,” according to Reuters.
Much like their oil field service company counterpart, BP is taking aggressive measures for a stronger position in court.
BP asked the court make a definitive ruling that Halliburton’s well was “unstable,” according to reports.
If the judge ruled in favor of such a request it would have given BP a stronger position in later court hearings.
Halliburton claimed that BP had “intentionally and continually” misrepresented its role in the catastrophe, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The oil services company specifically claims that BP was dishonest with public statements and its own internal reports regarding the root causes of the disaster.
It can be expected for the two companies to continue an aggressive opposition with each other considering the devastating nature of the accident.
The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and continuously erupted oil from the sea floor every day until it was capped on July 15, 2010.
In those four months, approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil polluted the ocean.
The Natural Resources Defense Council reports that the catastrophe resulted in severe, long-term environmental damage of the Gulf of Mexico.
The spill was the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
