US independent Hess has taken Schlumberger to court, alleging that faults with three of the service giant’s valves at the Tubular Bells field in the US Gulf of Mexico have led to expensive repairs, project delays and curtailment of crucial production.
Hess had told investors it had been bedevilled by valve problems at the field and intended to seek legal remedies after lower-than-expected production caused the company to pare back full-year production estimates for 2016 by up to 15,000 barrels per day.
The lawsuit, filed this month in a Texas federal court, lays out the details, alleging that fixes in two of the five Schlumberger safety valves have already cost Hess $115 million, not counting lost production, and 125 days of time,...
