NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A ranking BP executive says the drilling rig that the company leased from Transocean Ltd. had a good safety record before a well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico triggered an explosion that killed 11 workers.
A Transocean attorney questioned Lamar McKay on Wednesday during his second day on the witness stand in a trial designed to identify the causes of the 2010 blowout and assign percentages of fault to the companies involved.
McKay was president of BP America at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. He said he personally did not know of any reason to be critical of Transocean or its crew members on the rig.
McKay also said BP has accepted "part of the responsibility" for causing the blowout of its Macondo well.
