Halliburton objects to Gulf spill settlement

Cement contractor Halliburton is objecting to a proposed $7.8 billion settlement between BP and a plaintiffs group representing more than 100,000 victims of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
    
Halliburton said in a filing in federal court in New Orleans late Tuesday the settlement improperly seeks to assign certain claims that BP has made against Halliburton to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee.
    
The Houston-based company says allowing the settlement to be approved under those conditions would affect its ability to independently settle with the PSC or individual plaintiffs. Halliburton also asserts it can't be made to contribute to payments BP makes to the plaintiffs without a legal obligation to do so.
    
Preliminary approval of the momentous settlement is expected to be considered by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier on Wednesday.

BP estimates it will pay about $7.8 billion to resolve these claims, but the settlement doesn't have a cap.
 
The deal was announced March 2, but its details are spelled out in hundreds of pages of documents filed last week.