Surprise, Surprise

Commentary By Ron Beasley

We are about to see an ecological catastrophe along the Gulf of Mexico.

A 120-mile oil slick advanced to within a few miles of the mouth of
the Mississippi River on Thursday as authorities scrambled to keep the
spill from damaging sensitive coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico.

As of late Thursday morning, southeasterly winds had driven the
slick to about three miles off the Louisiana coast, National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration spokesman Charlie Henry
told reporters.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of
emergency Thursday as authorities scrambled to mitigate its
environmental effects.

Oil company BP, whose ruptured well is at
the heart of the spill, and state and federal agencies have strung
floating booms around the leading edge of the shoreline in an effort to
contain the spill, but authorities said it could begin affecting some
areas of the coast by Thursday evening.

Press coverage has centered on BP and the rig owner Transocean but there has been no mention of the company that was actually working at the time of the blowout - Hallliburton.

The widow of a crew member killed in last week's oil platform
explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has filed a lawsuit accusing the
companies that operated the rig with negligence, court documents showed
Tuesday.

The suit was filed by Natalie Roshto against Transocean
Ltd, British Petroleum and Halliburton after the blast that killed her
husband Shane, a seaman on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig.

Her lawsuit charges that Halliburton, an oil services industry firm
which prior to the explosion "was engaged in cementing operations of the
well and wellcap... improperly and negligently performed these duties,
which was a cause of the explosion."

The suit also blamed Transocean and British energy giant BP for various alleged acts of
negligence, including "failing to provide a competent crew" and "failing
to exercise due care and caution."

The first mention of Halliburton  in the US media came today in Bloomberg.

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, Halliburton Co.
and Transocean Ltd. slumped on investor concern about the costs of
containing a worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. shares of BP, which vies with Royal Dutch
Shell Plc for the title of Europe�s biggest oil company, plunged 8.3
percent to $52.56 at 4 p.m. in New York. Halliburton, the world�s
second-largest oilfield contractor, sank 5.3 percent to $31.60.
Transocean, the world�s largest offshore oil driller, declined 7.5
percent to $78.51.

Apparently investors knew of Halliburton's involvement.