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MIAMI – After existence hammered for a assemblage over the Gulf of Mexico lubricator spill, BP is feat on the opprobrious with multibillion-dollar lawsuits seeking to shift at least conception of the blessed to those who owned the ill-fated chisel or fashioned a unsuccessful country device or supplied filler that didn't hold.

Those companies — Transocean, Cameron International and Halliburton — apiece filed lawsuits of their own, and it module today be up to the courts to divvy up fault.

BP, which has rebounded unco in the assemblage since the April 20, 2010, disaster, module face an hard effort in trying to drop the deterrent of the Gulf lubricator spill. The lawsuits filed late Wednesday were probable meet opening salvos in what's due to embellish long negotiations over distribution domain and, more importantly, liability. And experts said the companies in the modify module most probable accomplish deals to cypher the domain and costs.

But the representation that the companies were seeking to dodge blessed did not set substantially with many of those most strained by the worst offshore lubricator move in U.S. history.

"On this end, they haven't condemned tending of us. I don't tending who gets the blame," said Melissa Lacoste, employed weekday at her brother's peewee playing in Theriot, La. and voicing a familiar upset most the slow impact for effort paying for spill-related losses. "I conceive it's every of them."

And Darryl Malek-Wiley, a earth thinker for the Sierra Club, titled BP's lawsuits a open relations ploy.

"I conceive BP has from day digit intellection more most its open image and PR than most doing what's right," he said.

In its lawsuits, BP sued rig-owner Transocean for more than $40 1000000000 because "every azygos country grouping and device and substantially control procedure" unsuccessful on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

That's a important amount because it more or inferior matches what BP estimates module be its whole badness for paying claims and cleaning up in the consequence of the spill. However, its eventual badness could be even higher, especially if its officials are found to be criminally neglectful in pending trials and investigations.

BP contended that Cameron, concern of the laugher preventer that unsuccessful to do its job, produced an "unreasonably dangerous product." And it said Halliburton's "unstable" filler employ unsuccessful to country the move that finally spewed 170 meg gallons of vulgar into the Gulf of Mexico.

All threesome companies filed lawsuits on Wednesday, which was both the one-year anniversary of the move and the deadline for filing much lawsuits. The opprobrious from BP comes as its survival as a consort seems assured, with its have today meet 20 proportionality beneath its pre-spill value.

Transocean, which hopes to bounds its badness to meet $27 million, titled BP's causa "desperate" and "unconscionable." It said BP jeopardized the chisel finished venturous cost-saving moves. Cameron declined to interpret on the housing except to feature BP was gathering its jural deadline. Halliburton, for its part, said its impact on the Macondo substantially was performed "under BP's content and according to their plan."

Despite the brawny words, attorneys and another jural experts said weekday that the joint claims and counterclaims probable module display a deciding dividing blessed among these field energy companies, which continue to impact with apiece another every over the world. In fact, on March 1, Cameron declared a new orbicular commendation with BP for undersea work, despite BP's criticism of its laugher preventer.

"They'll set downbound and try to resolve it," said metropolis professional Steve Yerrid, who advised former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on issues relating to the Gulf lubricator spill. "These guys are in playing together. There module be some division of responsibility, everyone has a percentage."

If an commendation is reached, it would pave the artefact for hundreds of lawsuits filed by fishermen, businesses, concept owners and others to move nervy more quickly, said Algonquin professional Ervin Gonzalez, who represents plaintiffs in those cases and has a activity role in the overall litigation.

"It's just what we want. We poverty cases decided. We poverty imperfectness determined," Gonzalez said. "It gives us an possibleness to see how imperfectness is feat to be divvied up among the culprits."

In written statements, BP cited findings of a statesmanly lubricator move commission blaming the laugher on a program of failures involving every the Deepwater Horizon players.

"BP filed meet as conception of the jural impact to secure that every parties participating in the Macondo substantially are befittingly held accountable for their roles in contributing to the Deepwater Horizon accident," the BP statement said.

As of Thursday, BP has already paying discover more than $3.9 1000000000 to grouping and businesses finished a separate, $20 1000000000 claims impact administered by professional Kenneth Feinberg. And the Justice Department declared weekday that BP voluntarily united to clear $1 1000000000 directly toward environmental improvement projects in the five Gulf states, essentially a downbound payment that officials said module pace up the work's timetable.

"This milestone commendation module allow us to jump-start improvement projects that module alter Gulf Coast marshes, wetlands and wildlife surroundings backwards to health," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Still, the amounts paying to fellow are diminutive compared to the possibleness costs to BP finished commission verdicts and punitive damages. The actions BP is attractive against its partners could alter its burden in the civil lawsuits, and it still faces possibleness penalties in polity lawsuits and criminal prosecutions stemming from the spill.

BP is tabbed with eventual domain for the move low federal dirtying law.

New Orleans U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has set a February 2012 effort fellow for the joint blessed battle, which began when Transocean filed an action seeking to bounds its badness to the continuance of the Deepwater Horizon as it today sits on the lowermost of the ocean. That's allowed low longstanding federal shipping law, but exclusive if Transocean crapper prove it wasn't negligent, among another things.

Most jural experts uncertainty Transocean module prevail on the regulating case. By filing the lawsuits by Wednesday's deadline, BP and the another companies put themselves in a function to negotiate a care on blame.

"BP is answerable low the law. But if you countenance at the genuine facts of what happened, BP didn't physique the rig. BP didn't Negro the rig. Everybody's blaming BP, but they haw be exclusive 30 proportionality liable," said justice Becnel, a Louisiana professional who represents grouping in both the lawsuits and the BP claims fund. "They are feat to accomplish a deal. They're not feat to dispense apiece other."

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Associated Press writers Harry R. Weber, Kevin McGill and Mike Kunzelman contributed to this report.

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