Transocean Says BP Is Withholding Data

BP's risk management machine continues churning. WSJ reported:

Transocean Ltd. is accusing BP PLC of withholding valuable information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, saying the U.K. oil giant is crippling Transocean's ability to conduct its own investigation into the disaster.

In an Aug. 18 letter to BP America lawyers, Transocean said BP has refused to hand over logs, operational reports and seismic data that will shed light on why and how the Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire and sank, leading to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

"It appears that BP is withholding evidence in an attempt to prevent any entity other than BP from investigating the cause of the April 20th incident and the resulting spill," Transocean attorney Steven Roberts said in the letter.

BPAmerica's lawyer is Jamie Gorelick of WilmerHale. She provided BP with numerous wins in negotiations with the White House.

Given BP's defensive behavior Cameron should be very worried about access to information. The blow out preventer (BOP) will be removed before the relief well conducts final cementing. The BOP will end up in the government's hands given the DOJ subpoena. Jamie's D.C. connections could help BP once again.