Halliburton admits to destroying evidence in Gulf oil spill

Halliburton Energy Services has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the Department of Justice said Thursday, making the company the third to admit wrongdoing in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Officials filed one criminal charge of destruction of evidence against Halliburton in a federal court in Louisiana. Halliburton said in a statement Thursday night that it had agreed to plead guilty "to one misdemeanor violation associated with the deletion of records created after the Macondo well incident."

Halliburton was BP's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in April 2010. The blowout triggered a blast that killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf.

According to the government, Halliburton recommended to BP that the Macondo well contain 21 centralizers, metal collars that can improve cementing, but BP chose to use six.

The government said that during an internal probe into the cementing after the blowout, Halliburton ordered workers to destroy computer simulations that showed little difference between using six and 21 centralizers.

Efforts to locate the simulations forensically were unsuccessful, the government said.

For its actions, Halliburton has agreed to pay the maximum fine, which the company said is $200,000, while a news release did not list the amount. The energy firm will also be on probation for three years and will continue to cooperate with the government's ongoing criminal investigation of the spill.

As part of the agreement, the Justice Department said it will not pursue further criminal charges against the company or its subsidiaries for any conduct arising from the 2010 spill, Halliburton's statement said, adding that federal officials have also "acknowledged the company's significant and valuable cooperation during the course of its investigation."

The plea agreement is subject to court approval.

Edward Sherman, a Tulane University law professor, told Reuters that the Halliburton admission may incidate how weak the company sees its position regarding liability related to the spill.

"Their willingness to plead to this may also indicate that they'd like to settle up with the federal government on the civil penalties," he said.

British oil giant BP and offshore drilling contractor Transocean previously entered guilty pleas related to other aspects of the spill. They agreed to pay criminal fines of $1.26 billion and $400 million, respectively.

Both declined to comment on the Halliburton plea.

Halliburton, BP and Transocean are also defendants in a federal civil trial that began in February to apportion blame and set damages for the oil spill.

The trial is scheduled to resume in September. Halliburton said in April it was in talks to settle private claims against it in the damages trial.

Source: Wire services