Barbier
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - All claims against BP contractor Weatherford International, Inc., in the Gulf oil spill multidistrict litigation proceeding have been dismissed.
Weatherford is a Swiss-based company responsible for making the float collar used by Halliburton to set a cement plug in the Macondo oil well. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier wrote in the ruling that there was no evidence that Weatherford's equipment was defective or in any way contributed to the blowout which led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.
A settlement worth $75 million was reached between BP and Weatherford's U.S. subsidiaries in June 2011 concerning the blowout and oil spill. The dismissal means Weatherford is not liable for any damages above the previously agreed upon amount.
In a statement released by Weatherford it was revealed the settlement was the funded by insurance policies taken out by the company.
Two of the defendants, Halliburton and M-I, LLC, had previously intended to oppose the dismissal of Weatherford, but withdrew opposition before Barbier's ruling.