Owners of Gulf rig blame BP

THE owner of the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year has largely blamed oil giant BP for the disaster.

A report by Transocean released yesterday said the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill last year was the result of a succession of well design, construction, and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the risk of its failure. The Swiss firm said many of the decisions were made by well owner BP in the two weeks before the incident.

Transocean said its evidence shows BP failed properly to assess, manage and communicate risk.

BP’s own report on the disaster blamed a cascade of failures by multiple companies. US government investigations also have spread around the blame. The findings by all of the various sides will be argued about for months and perhaps years to come as numerous lawsuits make their way through court.