BP And Halliburton Play The Blame Game In Federal Court

BP and Halliburton are playing the “blame game” with each other in a new lawsuit filed in federal court by BP, accusing Halliburton of destroying evidence related to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which resulted in the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Halliburton was a contractor for BP on the rig. The mising documents may prove that the cement barriers on the rig were faulty. 

In the filing, BP claims that Halliburton destroyed evidence on cement testing and violated court orders by not bringing forth “missing” computer modeling results. Allegedly, after repeated requests from BP and an order from the court, Halliburton refused to provide these documents in discovery.

Here’s where it gets interesting. After more investigations, BP apparently discovered that Halliburton destroyed the results of physical slurry testing, and it has lost the computer modeling outputs that showed no channeling, all because they wanted to eliminate any risk that the evidence would be used against them at trial.

Halliburton has responded, saying that the conclusions are without merit and they are looking forward to contesting BP in court.

In the BP documents, it is said that two Halliburton employees testified under oath about destroying notes and samples related to analyzing the stability of a similar cement mixture that was used in the failed oil well. In the deposition, Rick Morgan, the Halliburton Global Advisor in Gulf Cementing, stated that he didn’t take any notes about the slurry, nor pictures, and he in fact dumped out the sample partly for fear that it would be misinterpreted in the litigation.

In September, the final federal report on the spill said that BP, Transocean, and Halliburton all share responsibility for the deadly explosion and ensuing oil spill, violating a number of federal offshore safety regulations.

Are you ready for the highlight? The report concluded that a key cause of the explosion was a faulty cement drilling barrier at the well site. Halliburton, as a BP contractor, was responsible for conducting the cement job, and had certain responsibilities for monitoring the well. Now it seems to be unsurprising that the documents to the construction are now “missing.”

The reasons why the cement job failed are unknown, but the disaster was the result of poor risk management, last minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the site. All companies have a hand in this negligence.

BP has agreed with the report’s conclusion and has acknowledged its role in the accident and claim that they are taking steps to enhance safety and continue to encourage other parties to acknowledge their roles. This seems to be reading loud and clear with the lawsuit.

However, Halliburton is still denying all responsibility. They claim that the report has incorrectly attributes the operation decisions to Halliburton and the operational responsibility lies solely with BP.

As these two major companies play the game of blame, it still does not take back the lives lost, the extreme contamination, and countless injuries in the future that the hundreds of gallons of chemical dispersant which went into the Gulf will arise to show.

If you or anyone you know has been injured due to an oil rig accident, contact the attorneys at V&B for free information and a free evaluation. Toll Free: 888-473-1258.