Pointing Fingers: Lawsuits Argue Accountability For BP Spill
A legal battle is brewing between BP and Halliburton, as both companies have introduced lawsuits this week -- each blaming the other for the spill. BP has also announced lawsuits against Cameron International and Transocean, which has resulted in a dizzying mix of cross claims and counterclaims from all parties involved.
BP is accusing Halliburton's faulty cement as being a primary cause of the spill, reports the Houston Chronicle.
"The record is clear that Halliburton's misconduct contributed to the accident and spill, and BP has filed this action to preserve its legal rights," BP said in a statement obtained by the Chronicle.
In February, AP reported that British Petroleum knew that Halliburton Co.'s work on the Macondo well was iffy. In a 2007 audit, BP said the cement contractor's work was incomplete, hard to understand, and just wasn't "cutting it".
Even so, work on the doomed well continued -- which places the blame squarely on BP, says Halliburton.
"BP utterly failed to meet its duties and obligations, and knew so at the time. … BP recklessly sacrificed safety for monetary savings and gain."
President Obama's presidential panel also blamed Halliburton's cement job for the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon rig, but the company claimed that the fault still lies with BP because they didn't run proper tests that would have found the problems that resulted in the oil spill.
BP has also targeted Transocean's "misconduct" and Cameron International, the manufacturer of Deepwater Horizon's blow-out preventer, as also responsible. All parties to the litigation have defended their indemnity rights.
Meanwhile, BP has experienced the brunt of the disaster's financial blow, while the others have not felt as fiscally responsible.
In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that Halliburton's financials could hardly be better -- as the company says they saw a 60 percent profit rise in 2010 and 2011 is off to a great start.
When asked of the reasons behind his company's success, Dave Lesar, Halliburton's chief executive, credited their financial upswing to investment strategies, increased efforts on franchising and also on customer loyalty.
"We have not seen a single piece of evidence where a customer has not used Halliburton because of the outcome on Macondo,"
