Transocean blasts BP for not sharing oil spill data

Transocean, the deep-water drilling rig company, has joined other BP partners involved in the Macondo oil well leak in the Gulf of Mexico in accusing the oil giant of withholding information related to the rig blowout that resulted in killing 11 people and causing the worst oil spill in world history.

The blame game escalated yesterday after Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, fired off a scathing letter to BP's attorneys accusing the London-based oil company of withholding critical evidence that could uncover the cause "of the tragic loss of eleven lives and the pollution in the Gulf of Mexico."

Of the eleven people who lost their lives on the fateful day, nine were from Transocean.

In demanding a whole list of lab test reports, pressure tests, logs and other technical documents, Transocean has accused BP of not releasing evidence in an attempt to bar others from determining the cause of the 20 April 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon.

Geneva, Switzerland-based Transocean said that BP's refusal to turn over the documents has hampered its own investigation into the cause of accident and the company has not been able to tell the families of the dead, the state and federal investigators about the cause of the explosion.

In its letter, Transocean said that BP has refused on at least seven occasions for its requests to hand over information, and only handed out limited amount of information after Transocean grudgingly signed a confidentiality agreement.