BP cost-cutting contributed to spill

The White House has said that cost-cutting measures made by BP and its partners contributed to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The disaster, which ravaged the coast, has been investigated by a special White House commission, which released its final report yesterday.

The commission found that the oil giant BP and some of its partners did not have sufficient measures in place to ensure safety on the Macondo well.

“Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time (and money),” the report said.

The commission will release its full review next week. The panel has also been asked to guide future offshore drilling.

The group does not have any power to punish or establish policy but it is thought its findings could have influence over future legal suits.

The findings released yesterday contradict the commission’s initial report in November, when it said that there was no evidence that cost-cutting measures contributed to the explosion and subsequent oil spill.

A chart held by the commission was leaked after that initial report which showed that decisions by BP workers on the Macondo well saved time but increased risks.

The commission’s new report includes a similar chart.

Ultimately, the report blames management failures. “The root causes are systemic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur,” the report said.

BP, Halliburton and Transocean are all cited in the report. Halliburton oversaw the cementing for the well, while Transocean owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon rig.

Responding to the report, BP said it supports the commission’s attempts to get to the bottom of the causes of the disaster.

“BP is working with regulators and the industry to ensure that the lessons learned from Macondo lead to improvements in operations … in deepwater drilling,” the company said.

Halliburton continues to dispute claims that its cement job was not adequate. Commenting on the report, it said the commission had “omitted information provided to them”.

Finally, the commission said U.S. government regulators lacked the authority, resources and expertise to prevent safety lapses.