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LOUISIANA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Halliburton says BP hid information about failed oil well in new suit

Godwin

Halliburton Energy Services Inc. filed an amended lawsuit against BP, claiming the oil company hid critical information about the failed Macondo well that led to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a motion to file a second amended cross-claim against BP, Halliburton claims that BP "failed to disclose ... critical data and empirical information relating to actual conditions for the Macondo Well."

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The New Orleans-based federal court is the venue for the massive multi-district litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is presiding over the MDL.

The 37-page cross claim is the latest filed by fellow defendants against BP. The suit claims "BP recklessly sacrificed safety for monetary savings and gain" and then conspired in a cover up after the well explosion.

Halliburton was provided the drilling cement that BP used on the Deepwater Horizon.

"BP failed to disclose and/or negligently or grossly negligently misrepresented to [Halliburton] critical information relative to the identification of the shallowest hydrocarbon-bearing sands within the production interval of the Macondo well," the suit states.

Halliburton claims that BP is liable because the disclosure of the information about the hydrocarbons located near the well would have allowed Halliburton to adjust the drilling.

"BP carelessly ignored failed well integrity test results to move forward with procedures that put the well into an underbalanced condition that led to the blowout," the suit states.

After the blowout, BP engaged in a cover-up to avoid liability, Halliburton claims.

BP knew of the concealed hydrocarbons in the sands surrounding the Macondo well which compromised the integrity of the drilling but "selectively and self-servingly omitted reference to it" in reports.

The suit does not specify an amount of damages Halliburton is seeking.

Halliburton attorneys Donald Godwin, Bruce Bowman, Jenny Martinez, Floyd Hartley Jr., Gavin Hill, Gavin Hill, Alan York, Jerry von Sternberg and Misty Hataway-Cone filed the suit.

Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179

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