BP has accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence about the quality of the cement used in the oil well that blew out last year and caused the worst US offshore oil spill.

BP is accusing Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence about the quality of its cement that went into the Deepwater Horizon well that exploded, killing 11 people and causing America’s worst offshore oil spill.

A key US report has laid much of the blame on BP for the massive Gulf of Mexico rig disaster.

A BP scientist identified a previously unreported deposit of flammable gas that could have played a role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it has emerged.

DISASTERS like the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig could happen again without significant reform, according to the conclusions of a presidential panel that has the companies involved in the nation’s largest offshore oil spill pointing fingers at each other again.

The presidential commission investigating the BP Gulf oil spill today challenged claims made in Congress that the oil company and others sacrificed safety to cuts cost.

A US judge ordered urgent tests on the cement contractor Halliburton used to seal the BP oil well that blew out catastrophically in the Gulf of Mexico.

US OIL services giant Halliburton has acknowledged it skipped a key test on the cement mix pumped into BP’s Gulf of Mexico well after BP changed the formula shortly before the explosion.

Contractor Halliburton admitted today that it skipped a crucial test on the final formulation of cement used to seal the BP oil well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP's investigation into the Gulf of Mexico spill sparked a backlash from its contractors and US politicians who accused the oil giant of attempting to shift some of the blame.

A report into a huge oil spill off Australia strikingly similar to the Gulf Coast one was handed to the government today.

New disclosures have revealed a complex cascade of deep-sea equipment failures and procedural problems in the BP oil rig explosion and massive spill fouling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and threatening industry and wildlife.

BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward was today on his way to Louisiana as the worst US oil spill in decades continued to spread into precious shoreline habitat along the Gulf Coast.

The worst US oil spill in decades spread into precious shoreline habitat along the Gulf Coast today as documents emerged showing British Petroleum downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the offshore rig that exploded.

HALLIBURTON’S decision to move its base from Texas to Dubai has sparked a political firestorm as Senator Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats expressed outrage at the oil services giant.

A 39-year-old Irishman is still being held by Nigerian militants today after he was abducted in the city of Port Harcourt on Sunday night.

“ON the eve of his recent sojourn in Europe, President Bush had an unpleasant run-in with a species of creature he had not previously encountered often — a journalist.”

US warplanes strafed gunmen in Fallujah and more than 100 guerrillas armed with rocket-propelled grenades pounded a lone US armoured vehicle – a sign of heavy battles ahead if troops resume a full assault on this besieged city.

Iraqi gunmen killed an Italian hostage – and threatened in a videotape to execute three other kidnapped Italians unless US troops pull out of the country.

A 2,500-strong US force, backed by tanks and artillery, massed on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Najaf for a showdown with a radical cleric, raising fears of an assault on the holiest Shi'ite city.

A PENTAGON audit has found United States Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company may have overcharged the Army by $1.09 per gallon for nearly 57 million gallons of gasoline delivered to citizens in Iraq, senior defence officials say.

AN independent agency will decide how to spend billions of dollars in aid for Iraq in a bid to attract more money from international donors, it was confirmed yesterday.

A watchdog group says it will file a shareholders lawsuit against US Vice President Dick Cheney and his former employer, Halliburton, claiming they engaged in accounting fraud.