'Risky cuts' led to US oil disaster

Decisions by energy firm BP and its partners intended to save time and money triggered the April explosion that led to the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the White House oil spill commission has said. The commission described systemic problems within the offshore energy industry and government regulators who oversee it, and said a disaster could happen again unless significant reforms are carried out. In an assessment released on Wednesday, a week before its final report was due, the panel said BP and its collaborators on the Macondo well had lacked a system to ensure their actions were safe. "Whether purposeful or not, many of the decisions that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean made that increased the risk of the Macondo blowout clearly saved those companies significant time [and money]," the commission said , a week before its final report was due. An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig in April killed 11 people and led to more than 800 million liters of oil spewing from BP's well. The commission concluded the spill was not an isolated incident caused by "rogue industry or government officials".