BP demands its contractor pay for all damages associated with the worst oil spill in U.S. history
BP has asked its main oilfields contractor, Halliburton, to pay for all damages stemming from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the BBC reports. According to a filing by BP’s lawyer, the oil company is demanding Halliburton pay for “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.” So far, BP has spent $14 billion in spill response and clean-up efforts, and is expected to dish out $20 billion more for damage claims. The two oil giants have been locked in an extensive legal battle since the spill and a trial is expected to kick off in February in an attempt to settle the claims. The manufacturer of the oil well’s blow-out preventer, Cameron International, has already paid $250 million to BP for costs associated with the spill. Halliburton manufactured the cement cap that blew off the underwater well when the blow-out preventer failed.