Gulf oil spill: Transocean blames BP

George Williamson, Attorney.
George is developing his practice in the areas of general civil, commercial and complex litigation as well as mass tort litigation.

A recent 854 page report released by Transocean Ltd., the company in charge of operating the Deepwater Horizon oil rig at the time of its April 20, 2010 explosion, largely blames BP for the disaster. “The report from Transocean Ltd. said the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill was sparked by a succession of well design, construction, and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the risk of its failure. Transocean said many of the decisions were made by well owner BP in the two weeks before the incident. Transocean said its evidence indicates that BP failed to properly assess, manage and communicate risk.  On one key aspect – the failure of the blowout preventer to keep oil from leaking into the sea – Transocean seemed to suggest it takes no blame.” Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, called the Transocean report “the newest salvo in the continuing circular finger-pointing contest” by the companies involved. This report comes as no surprise as Transocean will be looking for any evidence (even if completely biased) to minimize its own liability for the damage cause by the oil spill in pending federal litigation. See article.