Yet another company has declared itself guilty of offences in connection with the major oil spill in the Mexican Gulf in 2010. Halliburton has admitted to destroying evidence related to the spill.

The admission means that the Houston-company must pay the maximum penalty for that type of offence, informs the U.S. Department of Justice according to the Financial Times.

The explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and led to the largest oil spill in U.S. history when millions of barrels of crude oil gushed into the ocean.

Both oil company BP and Transocean, owner and operator of the oil rig respectively, have previously declared themselves guilty of several offences in connection with the disaster.

In addition to paying the fine, Halliburton is also prepared to be under observation for three years and to cooperate with the authorities regarding the investigation of the disaster. The oil spill caused major beach areas by the U.S. coasts of the Mexican Gulf to be contaminated by crude oil.

Halliburton will also make a contribution to nature protection in the form of 55 million USD to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Halliburton has set almost 1.4 billion USD aside for compensation claims following the disaster. 

Last year, BP paid 4.6 billion USD in a settlement with the American authorities on the criminal aspects of the case, including criminal neglect which led to the deaths of 11 oil workers.

BP has previously paid millions of dollars in oil pollution compensation to the people who were affected by the spill when an oil well at the bottom of the Gulf broke.

The oil gushed into the Gulf for 87 days before BP succeeded in stopping the spill.

RITZAU FINANCE

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