Halliburton takes BP to Texas court

OIL driller Halliburton yesterday revealed it is suing BP in a Texas court for “negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation” relating to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Transocean, the owner of the drilling rig that exploded and sank last April, and BP are already locked in a legal battle over which company was at fault in the disaster that killed 11 workers. Houston-based Halliburton said its allegations were based on BP providing inaccurate information prior to the US firm carrying out its cementing services the day before the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company added: “Halliburton remains confident that all the work it performed with respect to the Macondo well was completed in accordance with BP’s specifications for its well construction plan and instructions, and that Halliburton is fully indemnified under the contract.”

In a strongly-worded response, the UK oil giant yesterday said: “BP believes this lawsuit is the latest attempt by Halliburton to divert attention from its role in the Deepwater Horizon incident and its failure to meet its responsibilities, and to deflect all blame to BP.”

In a separate development, BP branded a lawsuit from its partners in joint venture TNK-BP that led to Russian bailiffs raiding its Moscow office this week as “absurd” and said that it expected to be able to resume normal work at the office on Monday.

Current BP chief executive Bob Dudley was forced out of his post as head of TNK-BP in 2009 by its Russian shareholders.