Gulf oil spill: panel says firms complacent

BBC:

Three major companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill lacked a safety culture and made serious mistakes ahead of the catastrophe, the key inquiry into the disaster has said.

The White House oil spill commission said there was a culture of complacency at BP, Transocean and Halliburton.

"There was not a culture of safety on that rig," co-chair Bill Reilly said.

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and polluted hundreds of miles of coast.

'Rush to completion'

Mr Reilly called for "top-to-bottom reform" at the companies involved in the well, known as the Macondo well, and faulted a "sweep of bad decisions" by the three companies.

"There appeared to be a rush to completion of the Macondo well and one has to ask where the drive came from that made people determine they couldn't wait for sound cement or the right centralisers," Mr Reilly said.

The panel had previously said the cement used to seal the well may have contributed to the blow-out that caused the explosion, and said the two companies had test results showing the cement was unstable.

Mr Reilly's remarks came a day after an investigator on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling said he had found no evidence BP had made risky decisions to save money.

Fred Bartlit challenged claims by members of the US Congress that choices made for economic reasons had increased the danger of a spill.

There was "no evidence at this time to suggest that there was a conscious decision to sacrifice safety concerns to save money," he said on Monday.

"We see no instance where a decision-making person or group of people sat there aware of safety risks, aware of costs, and opted to give up safety for costs."

The White House commission is not due to report for another two months.

The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says it is too early for anyone involved in the disaster to feel that they have been let off the hook.

Representatives of all the major companies involved are expected to make presentations during the hearing, and Mr Bartlit has asked them to avoid what he called "bickering and self-serving statements".