Drill Spill Horror Report Fury

Companies call for government regulation to be tightened in wake of White House commissioner's heresy

The Deepwater Horizon public relations disaster was an avoidable blow-out caused in part by inadequate regulation, the three companies involved have concluded.

A report by the White House oil commission blamed systemic failure, industrial complacency and cost-cutting

In the course of a communistic rant in favour of more government control over business, the commission's co-chairman criticised the companies for not being "guided by an unrelenting commitment to safety first".

However, one of the companies is Halliburton, whose commitment to the safety of the people of Iraq is a matter of extensive public record.

Another is Transocean, which kept the dangers of deep-water drilling secret from its workers but has now tried to compensate by showing a zealous commitment to the safety of its Board of Directors and blaming BP and the federal government.

All three companies agreed that the White House commission report constituted prima facie evidence of the need for government to be more closely regulated by the oil industry.

BP said that it was working with its representatives in the government to ensure that the experience in the Gulf of Mexico led to improved practices where laying blame for future disasters was concerned.