Gulf spill report highlights BP and Transocean faults

Deepwater Horizon: The US Chemical Safety Board has faulted BP and Transocean for lax guidelines in a report on the Macondo well explosion and subsequent oil spill in 2010

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News Wires

 24 July 2012 06:37 GMT

BP and Transocean lacked clear guidelines for key tests to ensure that the ill-fated Macondo well was safely sealed before it ruptured and triggered the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, US safety investigators said.

The preliminary report from the US Chemical Safety Board, to be delivered at a public hearing in Houston today, puts the spotlight back on missteps highlighted in prior investigations as BP faces potential civil and even criminal penalties over the incident, Reuters reported.

More than two years have passed since the disaster struck at 9:53pm on 20 April 2010, when a surge of methane gas known to rig hands as a "kick" sparked an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 men. The vessel sank two days later.

London-based BP was…

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