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BP Releases Report on Gulf Well Blowout
from the Washington Post (Registration Required)
BP's long awaited internal investigation into the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas well blowout blamed "a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties," but BP chief executive Tony Hayward said the well's much-criticized design was probably not among the causes.
The company's four-month investigation by a team of more than 50 technical and other specialists found that the type of cement slurry that was used failed, along with a device known as a shoe barrier designed to contain oil and gas.
The report, released Wednesday, also said that BP and Transocean workers "incorrectly accepted" the results of a pressure test. And it added that over a crucial 40-minute period, the Transocean rig crew "failed to recognize and act on the influx of hydrocarbons into the well" when it might still have been possible to cut off the flow.
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