Halliburton Sues BP In Texas - Alleges Misrepresentation

- Halliburton Files Lawsuit Against BP

Friday, September 02, 2011
Halliburton Co.

On September 1, 2011, Halliburton filed claims against BP in Texas state court for negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation related to the April 20, 2010, Macondo incident. Halliburton has also moved to amend its claims against BP in the multi-district litigation in New Orleans, Louisiana, to include fraud.

These allegations are based upon BP providing Halliburton with inaccurate information prior to performing cementing services on April 19, 2010, and BP's use of and omission of that information in subsequent public statements, filings and governmental investigations.

Halliburton has learned that BP provided Halliburton inaccurate information about the actual location of hydrocarbon zones in the Macondo well. The actual location of the hydrocarbon zones is critical information required prior to performing cementing services and is necessary to achieve desired cement placement.

Halliburton remains confident that all the work it performed with respect to the Macondo well was completed in accordance with BP's specifications for its well construction plan and instructions, and that Halliburton is fully indemnified under the contract.

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Halliburton Sues BP In Texas - Alleges Misrepresentation

Friday, September 02, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Melodie Warner

Halliburton filed a negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation lawsuit against BP in Texas state court related to the April 2010 Macondo explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Halliburton has also moved to amend its multi-district litigation in New Orleans to include fraud claims against BP.

The oilfield-services company alleges BP provided Halliburton with inaccurate information--such as the actual location of hydrocarbon zones in the Macondo well--before cementing services began on April 19, 2010. Halliburton also claims BP has used and omitted that information in subsequent public statements, filings and governmental investigations.

"This lawsuit is the latest attempt by Halliburton to divert attention from its role in the Deepwater Horizon incident and its failure to meet its responsibilities," BP said in a statement. The energy giant said it has accepted responsibility for responding to the spill and is accordingly paying costs and compensation. BP "expects other parties to accept their responsibilities and bear their share of the costs," the statement said.

Last fall, BP released a report that largely faulted Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and Halliburton for last year's disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill. While government investigations have generally assigned blame to both BP and its contractors, Transocean disclosed an internal investigation in June that focused almost entirely on decisions made by BP.

Halliburton said Friday it remains confident that all the work it performed was completed in accordance with BP's specifications, and that Halliburton is fully indemnified under the contract.

Shares of Halliburton were trading 2.8% lower at $41.83 moments after the opening bell.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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Cairn Energy Files Injunction to Stop Greenpeace Rig Protests

- Cairn Energy Files Injunction to Stop Greenpeace Rig Protests

Thursday, June 02, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Alexis Flynn

Cairn has filed for an injunction against environmental group Greenpeace and two Dutch-registered vessel owners in an attempt to prevent activists from further disrupting its drilling activities offshore Greenland, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer said Thursday.

Cairn "cannot allow any action that poses a potential threat to the safety of our employees or the protesters involved," the company said.

Greenpeace confirmed legal proceedings against the group had begun. It said Cairn is seeking fines of EUR2 million a day for every day its operations are affected after Monday if the injunction is granted.

"Cairn is trying to use a legal hammer to shut down our campaign to kick the oil companies out of the Arctic, but we'll challenge Cairn and its lawyers every step of way," said Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe.

Cairn said it was requesting the order from an Amsterdam court to stop the future disruption of its "lawful operations offshore Greenland."

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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ExxonMobil Files Development Plans for Hebron

ExxonMobil Files Development Plans for Hebron

Friday, April 29, 2011
Rigzone Staff

ExxonMobil has filed a development application with the Newfoundland and Labrador regulatory board for the Hebron project. The Board is in the process of reviewing the application. Once the application has gone through the review process, the Board will begin a public review period.

A review of the merits of the project will not commence until the Board is satisfied that it has received a complete application. ExxonMobil and its partners have yet to file a benefits plan and other supporting documentation in connection to the application. These documents are expected to be provided to the Board by early May.

The Hebron Project is located offshore St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin in the North Atlantic Ocean. Production is expected to begin no later than the end of 2017. This will be the fourth stand-along development project on the Grand Banks. Oil from Hebron will be produced from a concrete gravity base structure (GBS). The scope of the project is expected to span over 30 years from the initial development phase, through installation and operations, decommissioning and abandonment. The facility will be designed to handle an estimated production rate of approximately 150,000 barrels of oil per day, which can potentially increase to 180,000 barrels of oil per day.

Transocean Files Cross-Claims against BP

Transocean Files Cross-Claims against BP

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Transocean Ltd.

Transocean announced that an affiliate of BP on April 20, 2011 filed a cross-claim against Transocean entities in the existing Multi-District Litigation proceeding in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana for contribution pursuant to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Pursuant to an order of the court, co-defendants in a consolidated proceeding related to the Macondo well incident were required to file claims by April 20, 2011.

To protect its rights, Transocean also filed cross-claims against BP entities and other parties involved in the Macondo well incident to enforce its indemnification rights.

Under the drilling contract for Deepwater Horizon, BP has agreed, among other things, to assume full responsibility for and defend, release and indemnify Transocean from any loss, expense, claim, fine, penalty or liability for pollution or contamination, including control and removal thereof, arising out of or connected with operations under the contract. Transocean expects BP to honor its contractual indemnification obligations under the contract. The Deepwater Horizon drilling contract with BP can be found in the company's August 4, 2010 10Q filing with the SEC.

BP Files Suit Against Halliburton

BP Files Suit Against Halliburton

Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Wall Street Journal
by Guy Chazan

BP said it had filed a lawsuit against Halliburton, claiming its "misconduct" contributed to last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster that led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday, the first anniversary of the blowout on BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig and killed 11 men. It came shortly after BP filed suit against two other contractors, Transocean, the Deepwater Horizon's owner and operator, and Cameron, which manufactured a critical safety device called a blowout preventer.

Wednesday saw the expiration of a court-issued deadline to make filings preserving the right to sue companies involved in the spill.

Aside from BP, the main owner of the Macondo well, no company has faced more criticism over the disaster than Halliburton. It designed the failed cement seal that experts think allowed explosive gas to flow into the well and reach the Deepwater Horizon. Halliburton doesn't deny the seal failed but argues BP should have run tests that would have revealed the problem.

In the filing, BP said its action was to hold Halliburton accountable for "improper conduct, errors and omissions, including fraud and concealment." In a statement, it said the President Commission that investigated the Gulf disaster concluded that the cement slurry designed, mixed and pumped by Halliburton failed, that the company didn't provide BP with the results of failed cement tests and that its technicians "missed critical signals that hydrocarbons were flowing into the wellbore." "The record is clear that Halliburton's misconduct contributed to the accident and spill," it said.

Halliburton said it would "vigorously deny these claims."

A BP spokesman said the company wasn't suing Halliburton for a particular sum, but would ask for damages of up to the total cost of the spill. Last year, BP set aside $40.9 billion for spill-related costs.

Earlier, BP filed claims against Transocean and Cameron, maker of the blowout preventer, a huge set of valves designed to shut down a well in an emergency. BP contended that if the blowout preventer had functioned properly, the spill could have been largely avoided.

The BP complaint said Transocean was responsible for multiple failures of safety devices and well control procedures. It said BP was seeking at least $40 billion in damages. BP also seeks to force Cameron to contribute all or part of the damages that could be levied against the oil giant by the federal government.

Cameron said in a statement that it was "not surprising" that the companies are filing to protect their indemnity rights, adding that in order to protect itself it had filed counterclaims against other parties to the litigation. A Transocean spokesman called the BP lawsuit "specious and unconscionable." It said its contract with BP indemnified it against all claims related to pollution and environmental damage.

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