BP has asked its contractor Halliburton to pay for all costs and damages that arose from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports from the BBC.
Various newswires and the BBC have today reported that the claims were made in a filing by BP’s lawyer Don Haycraft in a US Federal court.
BP and Halliburton are locked in a legal battle with a trial expected this year to settle damages claims.
According to the filing, BP has sought “the amount of costs and expenses incurred by BP to clean up and remediate the oil spill, the lost profits from and/or diminution in value of the Macondo prospect, and all other costs and damages incurred by BP related to the Deepwater Horizon incident and resulting oil spill”.
According to BP’s website the company has set aside $20 billion for economic claims and natural resource restoration. The company has already paid out $7.4 billion – Payments for individual, business & government claims. This excludes a sum of $179 million funding to Gulf States for tourism promotion.
Halliburton made the cement cap on the well which blew when the blow-out preventer failed. The explosion killed 11 workers and led to more than 4 million barrels of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
Last month, Cameron International, which manufactured the well’s blow-out preventer, agreed to pay BP $250m for costs associated with the spill.
BP also remains in legal action with Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig.
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