BP cannot hand share of clean-up costs to Halliburton, rules judge | Business | guardian.co.uk

BP cannot hand share of clean-up costs to Halliburton, rules judge | Business | guardian.co.uk: "BP will not be able to hand off a share of the $40bn (£25.3bn) in clean-up costs and economic losses from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster to Halliburton, a judge in New Orleans has ruled.

The decision, from US district judge Carl Barbier who will hear the main case for damages against BP next month, quashes the oil company's hopes of collecting a share of the clean-up costs from Halliburton.

A White House investigation found Halliburton had used flawed cement in constructing the BP well, leading to the April 2010 blow-out which killed 11 men on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and spewed 4.9m barrels of crude into the Gulf.

However, Barbier wrote in his decision that BP must indemnify Halliburton from damage claims under the terms of its drilling contract. Halliburton is still on the hook for fines, however.

"BP is required to indemnify Halliburton for third-party compensatory claims that arise from pollution or contamination that did not originate from the property or equipment of Halliburton located above the surface of the land or water, even if Halliburton's gross negligence caused the pollution," Barbier wrote"

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