Transocean Blames BP for 2010 Oil Spill

The Washington Post reports:

Transocean, the owner and operator of the drilling rig that caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last year, has concluded that oil well owner BP was primarily responsible for the massive oil spill triggered by the blast.

In a report issued Wednesday after an internal investigation, Transocean said BP used a “faulty” well design, failed to check the integrity of cement used to seal the well, and decided on a plan to close up the well that “created unnecessary risk.”

Transocean acknowledged some fault for its crew’s failure to detect the signs that hydrocarbons were breaching the cement and steel barriers in the Macondo well and making their way up the drill pipe. Those signs should have raised alarms about a possible blowout, its investigators found.