Halliburton has issued a strong rebuttal of the cement report released by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
The Commission, established by US President Barack Obama to investigate the Macondo well disaster, released its findings on independent tests carried out by Chevron into the cement used initially to seal the well.
Failure of the cement, and the subsequent failure of the sealing process, was highlighted as one of the causes of the escape of hydrocarbons which led to the explosion of the Deepwater rig and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The findings of the cement test were critical of the stability of the cement slurry used by Halliburton on the well and the laboratory protocols used during Halliburton's own testing of the cement prior to pouring.
However, Halliburton were quick to issue a robust response to the report, questioning the findings and, in particular, the methods and cement types used to conduct the tests. It also turned the spotlight on BP and the decisons allegedly made by BP engineers with regards to the number of casing stabilisers deployed as part of the cementing process, as well as interpretation of cement tests at the time.
The Commission's investigations are ongoing.