(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Swiss firm Transocean, which lost it's Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, has laid the blame for the explosion and subsequent spill largely at the feet of BP.
In an extensive report, which in parts diverges from US government analyses of the disaster, Transocean acknowledges some failings but what it describes at "the incident it states, was caused by ⌠a succession of interrelated well design, construction and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the risk of failure.
"Temporary abadonment" effectively blames BP as it is a process of plugging a well after initial drilling so that new equipment can be brought in to complete the well in order for production to begin; the report states that BP engineers produced at least five such plans for the well from April 12 to April 20, the day of the blast.
An investigation by the US Coast Guard released in April criticised Transocean and found that the halting of the spill was complicated by ⌠numerous system deficiencies, and acts and omissions by the company and its crew on the rig, according to the Financial Times.
MRC