"Halliburton to pay $1.1bn for US Gulf spill", 2 Sep 2014

Halliburton says it has agreed to pay $1.1bn to settle a substantial portion of claims arising from its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill...It is subject to court approval. Halliburton was BP's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf in April 2010. The blast killed 11 workers and triggerred the largest offshore oil spill in US history with 4.9 million barrels of oil spilling into the sea. Halliburton was responsible for the placement of "centralisers" that help stabilise the well bore during cementing. It had earlier blamed BP's decision to use only six centralisers - to save "time and money" - for the blowout. The deal will settle claims assigned to Halliburton as a result of BP's settlement in 2012 and punitive damages from the loss of property or commercial fishing activity resulting from the oil spill...