Post date: Apr 21, 2011 2:58:58 PM
BP and its partners involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill have unleased a barrage of legal claims a year after the rig blast killed 11 workers and created an environmental disaster.
USA-BP-SUIT - One year on from the explosion that led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP is going on the offensive filing for damages of more than 80 billion dollars.
Its suing Halliburton - which cemented the blown-out well - for more than 42 billion and is claiming a similar sum from Tranocean which owned the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig.
It claims Halliburton concealed critical information which could have prevented the disaster and accused Transocean's of negligence which caused the rig to be unseaworthy.
Analysts say BP has little chance of winning the cases and is most probably trying to force the companies to settle.The legal action is a risk.
It could harm BP's reputation even further, especially if more embarrassing details of the way the disaster was handled are disclosed in court.
BP shares fell more than 6 percent in early trade before regaining ground.
Andrew Potter, Reuters