Halliburton Energy Services is to become the last of the three main companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil leak to admit criminal wrongdoing.

Halliburton, BP and other companies are now facing a civil trial which will allocate responsibility between them. Edward Sherman, professor of law at Tulane University, told BBC News that the latest move might indicate a softer approach towards the forthcoming hearing. He said: 'Their willingness to plead to this may also indicate that they'd like to settle up with the federal government on the civil penalties.'

Destruction of records

The company accepts that it will have to pay the maximum fine possible as a result - even though this fine is set at a relatively low level. Halliburton said in a statement that it had reached agreement with the US Justice Department to conclude the department's criminal investigations in relation to Halliburton's role after the leak occurred. It said: 'A Halliburton subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor violation associated with the deletion of records created after the Macondo well incident, to pay the statutory maximum fine of $200,000 and to accept a term of three years probation.'

BP - which faces compensation bills of between US $7.8 billion and $15  billion to Gulf of Mexico claimants who lost out in the leak - has been accusing Halliburton all along of destroying evidence relating to the latter's potential culpability for the leak. BP had asked Halliburton to pay for all damages.