Oilfield services giant Halliburton on Thursday filed a lawsuit against BP plc claiming negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation related to the April 20, 2010 Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Houston-based company, which filed the lawsuit in a Texas court, also moved to amend claims pending against BP in multi-district litigation in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans 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 said.

Halliburton officials said they learned that BP had provided “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.”

BP, which was operator and majority owner in the Macondo well, also had been leasing the Deepwater Horizon rig when the explosion occurred.

Late last year the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil lawsuit against all of the parties involved in the incident: BP Exploration and Production Inc.; Anadarko Exploration and Production LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; Mitsui & Co. Ltd. subsidiary MOEX Offshore; Swiss-based Triton Asset Leasing GMBH; Transocean Holdings LLC, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean Deepwater Inc.; and Transocean’s insurers. They are being charged with violating the federal Clean Water Act, except for Transocean’s insurers (see Daily GPI, Dec. 16, 2010).

The DOJ lawsuit has asked the court to declare the energy defendants “jointly and severally liable” for all removal costs and damages beyond the $75 million cap under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act, with the exception of Transocean’s insurers, QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyd’s Syndicate.

In April BP sued Halliburton claiming the oilfield service operator’s “misconduct” had contributed to the well blowout and explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig. At that time BP also filed claims against rig owner and operator Transocean Ltd. and Cameron International, which manufactured the well’s blowout preventer (see Daily GPI, April 25). BP noted in its lawsuit that the National Oil Spill Commission, appointed by President Obama, had concluded that the cement slurry designed, mixed and pumped by Halliburton failed, and that results of the failed tests were not provided, which caused technicians to miss “critical signals that hydrocarbons were flowing into the wellbore.”

The presidential commission found early this year that the tragic blowout resulted from “several individual missteps and oversights by BP, Halliburton and Transocean,” and to a “systemwide problem” with industry practices and government policies (see Daily GPI, Jan. 12; Jan. 7).

Halliburton said Friday it “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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