A WAR of words broke out yesterday between British Petroleum and rig operator Transocean after a long-awaited report by the oil company into the worst crude spill in US history placed much of the blame on the US rig operator.
The investigation team working for BP avoided making many references by name to Transocean in its summary but claimed that “multiple companies” and mistakes were at the heart of the Deepwater Horizon blowout.
It went on to list eight key findings related to the causes of the accident and at least five of them appeared to come under the area of responsibility that could be attributed to Transocean rather than BP.
The oil company has taken the bulk of public and political criticism since the Macondo well blowout on April 29th, and it dismissed chief executive Tony Hayward in an attempt to recover ground. It has always believed that the accident was the responsibility of a wider group of companies and the investigators have backed up its claims, concluding that there was no single action or inaction that caused the accident.
Instead they claim in the report that “a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces came together to allow the initiation and escalation of the accident. Multiple companies, work teams and circumstances were involved over time.”
Transocean was immediately on the attack, issuing a statement that accused BP of producing 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 – in some cases, severely.”
The BP report also points the finger of blame at Halliburton, the huge contracting firm once led by former US vice-president Dick Cheney, and Cameron, an American firm that provided a “blowout preventer” meant to stop the well exploding.
Mr Hayward made clear that he felt the report partly exonerated his company.
“The investigation report provides critical new information on the causes of this terrible accident. It is evident that a series of complex events, rather than a single mistake or failure, led to the tragedy. Multiple parties, including BP, Halliburton and Transocean, were involved,” he said. – (Guardian service)