Can The Oil Spill On The Gulf Be Blamed On ...

As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spreads, allegations are coming to light that this may be the Halliburton oil spill. BP has claimed responsibility for paying for the oil spill cleanup, and Transocean was operating the oil drilling platform - but now both are looking to Halliburton for oil spill answers.

The oil spill and how Halliburton was involved

Being leased to BP although the Deepwater Horizon was owned by Transocean, Halliburton was working as a contractor when the oil spill started. Transocean hired Halliburton to cement the oil well. Cementing an oil well is a process where a specialty cement is pumped into an oil well to plug it and prevent an oil spill and combustible gas from leaking. When the cement is improperly mixed, improperly pumped, or cracked, Natural gas and oil will push through it. Halliburton had just finished cementing the well when Deepwater Horizon exploded. To convince others it wasn’t their fault, Halliburton will need more than payday loans.

Concerns of the Halliburton oil spill

The Halliburton oil spill concerns come from the oil rig cementing process. Halliburton is the largest oil well cementing business in the world which is also 11 percent, rather $ 1.7 billion, of the business the business has. When the cementing process goes wrong, a Halliburton oil spill is generally the result. A study done in 2007 found that "cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 well blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period." This is essentially saying that Halliburton cementing issues are a lot more common than equipment failure and pipe failure when it comes to the cause of Gulf of Mexico oil spills. Other countries like Australia have experienced oil spills as well.

Halliburton and oil spill lawsuits

The possibility of a Halliburton oil spill is what multiple lawsuits are depending off of. Natalie Roshto, wife to one of the Transocean employees who was killed, has filed a lawsuit against Halliburton. This lawsuit claims the explosion and ensuing oil spill were the fault of Halliburton. The lawsuit specifically states that "prior to the explosion, (Halliburton) was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap and, upon information and belief, improperly and negligently performed these duties, which was a reason for the explosion."

Oil spill responsibility is not claimed by Halliburton

Though BP has agreed to pay for part of the cleanup of the oil spill, and Transocean is taking responsibility for a portion of the oil spill, Halliburton has not claimed any responsibility. Halliburton has only confirmed that the corporation had just completed cementing about 20 hours before the explosion.

Sources for the article

Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/48419230-57a3-11df-855b-00144feab49a.html

The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/05/halliburton-could-be-...

Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870357250457521459356476907...

CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20004069-503544.html