BP blames others for oil spill, Transocean hits back

8th Sep 2010 12:12

BP said responsibility for the explosion an oil well that led to the deaths of 11 people and a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shared by several companies, provoking an angry response from one of the firms it blames.The oil spill was due to decisions by 'multiple companies and work teams', a report released by BP today says.While BP says it accepts responsibility for certain failures, it also says that the blame is partly shared by Transocean, the company operating the well, and oil service group Halliburton, which was involved in cementing the well.Transocean rejected the report.'This is a self-serving report that attempts to conceal the critical factor that set the stage for the Macondo incident: BP's fatally flawed well design. In both its design and construction, BP made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased risk,' it said.BP said the disaster was caused by 'a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces.'BP's outgoing chief executive Tony Hayward said that 'a series of complex events, rather than a single mistake or failure' led to the disaster.'Multiple parties, including BP, Halliburton and Transocean, were involved,' he said.'To put it simply, there was a bad cement job and a failure of the shoe track barrier at the bottom of the well, which let hydrocarbons from the reservoir into the production casing. The negative pressure test was accepted when it should not have been, there were failures in well control procedures and in the blow-out preventer; and the rig's fire and gas system did not prevent ignition.'BP says it will implement recommendations that arise from the report to prevent future accidents. The recommendations relate to 'strengthening assurance on blow-out preventers, well control, pressure-testing for well integrity, emergency systems, cement testing, rig audit and verification, and personnel competence.'More information will be available when samples of cement used by Halliburton in the well are released for testing and when the rig's blow-out preventer is fully examined having been recovered from the sea-bed, BP said.More details of blame for the spill are likely to arise from investigations in the US, where the oil spill has provoked widespread public anger. The oil spill has wiped billions of the market value of BP and resulted in the resignation of its chief executive, Tony Hayward.The oil spill also prompted calls from environmentalists for limits or outright bans on deepwater drilling.