'Many parties' to blame for BP oil spill, report finds

In an internal inquiry published on Wednesday, British energy group BP has accepted some responsiblity for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. The report concludes that several parties were to blame for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April, which caused the worst spill in US history.

Reuters

BP's statement summarising the report said that "no single factor" had caused the Macondo well tragedy.

"A sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year," it concluded.

The report said the accident arose from "a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design" as well as communication breakdowns.

The oil giant has already rejected any suggestion that it was guilty of gross negligence over the accident, which spewed an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, but it faces potential multibillion-dollar lawsuits.