BP and Halliburton let the lawsuits fly

BP and Halliburton have filed lawsuits blaming each other for the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion and ensuing oil spill.

The British oil company filed suit late Wednesday against the oil field services giant, which was the cement contractor on BP's Macondo well. Earlier Wednesday it had sued Cameron, the maker of the failed blowout preventer on the well, and Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

The lawsuit accused Halliburton of fraud, negligence and concealing material facts in connection with its work on the rig.

"BP's claims are consistent with the conclusions reached by the Presidential Commission, which found that the cement slurry designed, mixed and pumped by Halliburton failed, that Halliburton did not provide BP with the results of failed cement tests, and that mudloggers who worked for the company's Sperry Drilling unit missed critical signals that hydrocarbons were flowing into the well bore," BP said in a statement.

"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."

But Halliburton's lawsuit against BP and a number of other companies involved in the well, also filed late Wednesday, says that Halliburton is contractually indemnified because the other parties' actions or omissions were to blame.

'Grossly negligent'

The lawsuit says BP was "negligent, grossly negligent, and/or acted with willful misconduct."

"BP utterly failed to meet its duties and obligations, and knew so at the time," the lawsuit says. "BP recklessly sacrificed safety for monetary savings and gain. 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."

Halliburton also accused BP of ignoring Halliburton's recommendations for the number of devices needed to center the Macondo well casing in the well bore.

Partners also sue

Mitsui subsidiary Moex Offshore and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., BP's minority partners in the well, also sued BP, saying they should not be liable for any of the damages or cleanup costs related to the accident.

Many parties tied to the accident filed suit against one another in recent days in order to preserve their rights to make certain claims under several statutory deadlines that expired Wednesday — the one-year anniversary of the disaster.

BP sues Transocean over Deepwater disaster

British energy group BP said Thursday it was suing Deepwater Horizon oil rig owner Transocean and parts manufacturer Cameron International over last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The maligned oil giant confirmed it was to sue the firms for $40 billion (27.4 billion euros) in damages at federal court in New Orleans over their alleged role in the fatal explosion.

BP claimed in a statement that Swiss-based company Transocean "missed critical signs that hydrocarbons were flowing up the riser and failed to take appropriate actions".

"As the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, Transocean is a 'responsible party' under the Oil Pollution Act and should therefore contribute to addressing economic and environmental damage sustained in the Gulf Coast," it added.

The British group said in a separate statement they were also suing US firm Cameron International, the makers of a blowout preventer (BOP) which BP believes failed in the lead up to last year's spill.

According to a BP statement, one of the BOP's "blind shear rams", which was meant to cut the faulty drill pipe and seal the well, failed to close fully due to a piece of trapped drill pipe, precipitating the April 20 disaster.

"The Presidential Commission and BP's internal investigation found that the Deepwater Horizon accident was the result of multiple causes involving multiple parties including the BOP's failure," the statement said.

Cameron has filed counter-claims and maintains its equipment was not to blame.

The blast killed 11 people and sent some 4.9 million barrels of oil gushing into the Gulf over a three-month period, wreaking havoc on the region's environment and economy.

BP vowed to make the people affected by the Gulf oil spill "whole" and created a 20-billion-dollar trust fund, its quasi-independent claims facility has paid 3.9 billion dollars to 177,000 claimants.