Rig engineers ‘knew oil well could blow’

Engineers on the Deepwater Horizon rig pressed ahead with an operation to plug and cap the well despite a series of clear warnings that pressure inside was surging, according to a memorandum of events leading up to the April 20 blast.

Details of the warnings, which included equipment readings that showed gas was finding its way into the well, were contained in evidence submitted to a US Congressional panel that was briefed on the accident by BP.

The memorandum, which was released overnight and was addressed to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, also raised concerns about a decision to replace heavy drilling mud in the well with seawater – a process that compounds the risk of a blowout in a poorly sealed oil well.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7136969.ece