BP tells feds Gulf spill due to multiple failures

[May 25, 2010]  COVINGTON, La. (AP) -- Oil giant BP is briefing the federal government on its internal investigation into the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that focuses on two key areas: cementing at the well head and the blowout preventer.

Caption: A contractor operates an oil skimmer Monday near a marsh at Pass a Loutre, La., where oil has washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill. (AP photo by Gerald Herbert)

BP said in a release late Monday that its probe has not reached a final conclusion. But it said multiple control mechanisms should have prevented the accident that started with an oil rig explosion April 20.

Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP PLC, called it a complex accident caused by an unprecedented combination of failures.

BP said its investigation team has begun sharing its findings with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

BP said there was still extensive work to do, including examining major pieces of equipment that are still on the seafloor.

[Associated Press; By GREG BLUESTEIN and MATT BROWN]

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