BP, Transocean Officials Botched Tests Night of Gulf Explosion, Witness Says

NEW ORLEANS—BP Plc and Transocean Ltd. officials on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig botched safety tests the night it blew up and sent oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, a drilling expert witness said in testimony in federal court March 6 (In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010).

The rig’s crew misinterpreted results of negative pressure tests done April 20, 2010, that showed the Macondo well was unstable, Richard Heenan, the oil-drilling expert, testified in a trial over spill claims. The U.S. government contends the ...