BP Suffered From 'Lack of Operating Discipline'

BP (BP) may have ignored potential risks related to the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the company suffered from a "lack of operating discipline" according to an interim report.

The report from the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council questions the competency of key personnel on the Deepwater Horizon rig, Bloomberg News reported.

The rig exploded in April, killing 11 workers and rupturing BP's Macondo oil well, which spewed crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico for weeks.

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The report spotlights the decision to temporarily seal the well after tests showed the cement used to prevent natural gas seepage wasn't effective. Regulators responsible for offshore drilling offered "insufficient" checks and balances, the report said.

"Important decisions made to proceed toward well abandonment despite several indications of potential hazard suggest an insufficient consideration of risks," Donald Winter, former secretary of the Navy and chair of the study committee, said in a statement.

BP and regulators both failed to identify or correct these flawed decisions, Winter said.