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Empresas y finanzas

BP seeking at least $20 billion from Halliburton: report


    (Reuters) - Oil major BP is seeking at least $20 billion from its contractor Halliburton in costs and damages in relation to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a court filing by BP's lead trial attorney.

    According to the filing by lawyer Don Haycraft in federal court in New Orleans, BP (BP..LO)asks to be reimbursed for cleaning up the oil spill, the lost profits on the Macondo prospect and all costs and damages related to the Deepwater Horizon incident and resulting oil spill, Bloomberg reported.

    Spokespeople for BP and HALLIBURTON (HAL.NY)could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010, which killed 11 workers and spewed more than 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, has sparked a slew of lawsuits and federal citations against the companies involved.

    Last month, Cameron International Corp agreed a $250 million settlement with BP to help pay for costs associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, raising hopes that deals between the British oil firm and two other contractors could follow.

    Yet settlement agreements with two remaining parties, Halliburton and Transocean , have to date proved elusive.

    Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton, which supplied cement to cap the well, are both being sued by BP to share the cost of the spill and cleanup, while the two have launched lawsuits of their own.

    (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)