BP accuses Halliburton of destroying oil spill evidence

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 accused Halliburton of intentionally destroying evidence about possible problems with its cement slurry poured into the deep-sea Macondo well about 160km off the Louisiana coast. An oil well must be properly cemented to avoid blowouts.

Also in documents filed in a New Orleans federal court, BP said Halliburton failed to produce incriminating computer modelling data. BP accused Halliburton of claiming the modelling is gone.