BP is told to cover Halliburton over oil spill costs

BP has suffered a further blow in its bid to share the billions of dollars of costs arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A US judge ruled it must cover all compensatory damages claims relating to the role played by Halliburton, the group responsible for the cement casing of the failed Macondo well.

The ruling followed a similar decision by the same judge last week in relation to Transocean, the drilling contractor in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. However, in both cases, Judge Carl Barbier ruled BP's partners would still be liable for any damages and civil penalties arising under the Clean Water Act, which could be billions of dollars.