Poor management by oil companies led to disaster in Gulf of Mexico

Accidents in the Gulf of Mexico could have been avoided if not for a
number of significant violations by BP and other contractors for the
project, concluded a presidential commission in a 48-page chapter of
the report, the full text of which will be published next Tuesday.

"Intentionally or not, many decisions by BP, Halliburton and
Transocean increased the risk of an explosion at the Macondo wells,
this was clearly saving the company a lot of time," leads the
Financial Times quote from the report.

The report states that "the reasons are systemic in nature" and,
without significant reforms of the industry and its regulation, "an
oil spill similar to what has happened in the Gulf of Mexico, could
well happen again."

The reports supports the argument previously stated by BP: the
responsibility for the accident in the Gulf of Mexico lies with
"several companies, including BP, Halliburton and Transocean.”