Halliburton and BP Knew About Substandard Cement Before Oil Spill

Posted in BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Environment,Government,Gulf Coast,Maritime Lawsuits,World Maritime News on October 29, 2010

WASHINGTON DC – A presidential commission investigating the Deepwater Horizon blowout has discovered that Halliburton and BP knew three weeks before the accident that the cement used to seal the well was unstable, but still went ahead with the job.

Deepwater Horizon explosion and fire that killed 11 oil rig workers on April 20, 2010.

This was the first official finding of responsibility for the blowout and disaster where 11 oil rig workers perished and which led to the largest oil spill in American history.

According to the commission, Halliburton had conducted three laboratory tests which indicating that the cement mixture did not meet industry standards.

According to a letter delivered to the commissioners on Thursday, BP was given the results from one of the tests on March 8, 2010 and BP failed to act upon it.

According to the the panel’s lead investigator, Fred H. Bartlit Jr., about a week before the blowout on April 20, 2010, Halliburton carried out another cement test and found the mixture to be unstable as well.

Still, Mr. Bartlit found that these findings were never sent to BP.

According to an article at the New York Times, the lead investigator didn’t “specifically identify the cement failure as the sole or even primary cause of the blowout,”

In his letter to the commission, Bartlit states clearly that “if the cement had done its job and kept the highly pressured oil and gas out of the well bore, there would not have been an accident.” Source: New York Times … read more