BP’s Deepwater defence

BP IS accusing US oil giant Halliburton of destroying evidence about the quality of its cement poured into the Deepwater Horizon well that exploded, killing 11 people and causing America’s worst offshore spill.

In a New Orleans court, BP accused Halliburton of destroying evidence about possible problems with its cement slurry poured into the deep-sea well at Macondo, about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, to prevent blowouts.

According to the court documents, BP also accused Halliburton of failing to produce computer modelling evidence. .

BP asked a judge to penalise Halliburton and order a computer forensic team to recover the missing modelling results.

Halliburton said the accusations were untrue.

The claims ratcheted up the showdown between BP and contractors Halliburton and Transocean. The three companies have been sparring over blame for the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast, which led to the release of 206 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. So far, BP, the majority owner of the well, has footed the bill.