BP focused too much on the little details of personal worker safety instead of the big systemic hazards that led to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a US government safety panel has concluded.

BP and its contractors missed and ignored warning signs prior to the massive oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, showing an “insufficient consideration of risk” and raising questions about the know-how of key personnel, a group of technical experts concluded.

A US judge ordered urgent tests on the cement contractor Halliburton used to seal the BP oil well that blew out catastrophically in the Gulf of Mexico.

The deadly blow-out of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation.