CORRECT: UPDATE: Halliburton Files Protest Against BP Oil Spill Settlement
April 25 2012 - 4:26PM
Dow Jones News
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Halliburton Co. (HAL) objects to BP PLC's
(BP) proposed $7.8 billion settlement with individual plaintiffs
for the oil giant's involvement in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig
disaster, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Halliburton in its filing said it had only "limited amount of
time available" to review BP's proposed settlement with thousands
of businesses, property owners and individuals along the Gulf of
Mexico who sustained economic damage from the 87-day oil spill. The
Houston-based company also contends BP's settlement would make
Halliburton responsible for paying at least part of the settlement
by "improperly assigning claims against (Halliburton) to the
plaintiff's steering committee," according to the filing.
Halliburton has said the company wasn't at fault in the
accident. A BP representative declined to comment.
"The plantiffs' steering committee and BP have had more than a
year to structure the proposed settlements, using a veritable army
of experts and attorneys," Halliburton's lawyers wrote in the
filing. "In contrast, (Halliburton) has had less than one week to
review and analyze the proposed settlements."
Halliburton's protest, filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana, is the latest twist in the legal
wrangling surrounding the companies since the April 2010 rig
explosion and fire in the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in 11 deaths
and millions of barrels of oil leaking into the water.
The spill stemming from the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil well
was the worst in the Gulf's history and resulted in thousands of
lawsuits against well owner BP; rig operator Transocean Ltd. (RIG),
and Halliburton, which provided cementing services for the
project.
Halliburton shares were $33.74 in mid-morning trading, up 1%. BP
at $41.87, down 0.1%.
-By Ben Lefebvre, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9201;
ben.lefebvre@dowjones.com
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