BP Oil Spill Report Identifies Who To Blame

Poor risk management and a failure to respond to warning signs were behind the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, US investigators have said.

A new report appears to spread blame for the disaster between the UK oil company, the Deepwater Horizon rig operator Transocean and US regulators.

BP made operational changes and didn't tell Transocean, who owned and ran the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig, the investigators concluded.

Meanwhile, Transocean missed vital opportunities to fix problems in a cement casing.

The report also concludes stronger federal regulations could have cut the likelihood of the disaster.

On April 20 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig caused the death of 11 workers.

In the subsequent oil spill, 4.9 million barrels of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico before the leak was finally capped.

Following the disaster, which was the worst ocean oil spill in US history, the US government asked the Coast Guard and the offshore drilling regulator BOEMRE to investigate.

"The loss of life at the Macondo site on April 20, 2010, and the subsequent pollution of the Gulf of Mexico through the summer of 2010 were the result of poor risk management, last-minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon," they concluded.

BP's share price rose on Wednesday morning following an earlier leak of the report.

Analysts said it would allow investors to assess how much money BP is likely to have to pay out in costs.

The report is not the first to be published into the Deepwater Horizon explosion, but it is likely to carry more weight than previous findings - and may see the US government make changes to oil drilling laws.

In a statement, BP said it agreed with the report's "core conclusion - consistent with every other official investigation - that the Deepwater Horizon accident was the result of multiple causes, involving multiple parties".

"From the outset, BP acknowledged its role in the accident and has taken concrete steps to further enhance safety and risk management throughout its global operations," it said.