BP, Halliburton ignored potential problemsthat may have caused oil rig explosion

BP finally stopped its oil well from leaking into the Gulf in September, but bad news for the company continues to pour out.

Fred Bartlit Jr., the lead investigator for the government’s probe of the Deepwater Rig disaster, revealed Thursday that both BP and contracting firm Halliburton knew there could be serious problems with the cement mix they poured into the rig on the day of the explosion, but used it anyway.

The cement was poured to stabilize the well on April 19 and 20th.

On the 20th, the well exploded, killing 11 workers and causing the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Halliburton conducted four tests on the mix in February and April, and the mix failed to perform in three of them.

The fourth test, which showed successful results, never made it to BP, but the company had already decided to proceed.

“Halliburton and BP both had results in March showing that a very similar foam slurry design to the one actually pumped at the Macondo well would be unstable, but neither acted upon that data,” Bartlit wrote in a letter to the National Commission on the spill, as reported by CNN. “Halliburton (and perhaps BP) should have considered redesigning the foam slurry before pumping it at the Macondo well.”

Following the news, the value of Halliburton shares plummeted, down nearly 8 percent by the end of trading on Thursday.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) slammed both companies, and called for BP CEO Bob Dudley to testify before Congress.

“The fact that BP and Halliburton knew this cement job could fail only solidifies their liability and responsibility for this disaster,” Markey said in a statement. “This is like building a car when you know the brakes could fail, but you sell the cars anyway.”

BP has admitted that flaws in the cement mix, which should have prevented oil and gas from entering the well, likely contributed to the explosion.

In a September 8 report, the company admitted that “weaknesses in cement design and testing, quality assurance and risk assessment” played a role in the disaster, but blamed the structural failure on Halliburton.

Halliburton responded at the time by saying it noticed “a number of substantial omissions and inaccuracies” in BP’s report.

“The fact that BP and Halliburton knew this cement job could fail only solidifies their liability and responsibility for this disaster,” Markey said in his statement Thursday. “We now know what BP and Halliburton knew, and when they knew it. And now we know they did absolutely nothing about it.”

Halliburton has yet to comment.

A spokeswoman for the company has said officials are still reviewing the findings internally and will issue a response.

With News Wire Services