BP files lawsuit in Gulf of Mexico case

NEW ORLEANS, April 21 (UPI) -- The blow-out preventer at the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico was flawed in design, BP said in a lawsuit filed against another company.

BP filed a $40 billion lawsuit against Transocean, saying "every single safety system and device and well control procedure" failed on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig last year, the Financial Times reports.

Wednesday marked the first anniversary of an explosion that sunk the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster killed 11 workers and caused one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the industry.

BP in a December report on the cascading series of events that sunk the platform in part blamed contractors Halliburton and Transocean for some of the failures that led to the accident. Halliburton and Transocean claimed the BP report was one-sided.

A federal investigation suggested a faulty cementing procedure led in part to the failure of BP's Macondo well.

BP said in its lawsuit that Transocean's negligence made the Deepwater Horizon oil rig "unseaworthy," the Financial Times reports.

"The simple fact is that on April 20, 2010, every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon failed, resulting in the casualty," court documents filed in a federal court in New Orleans read.

Specifically, BP said the blow-out preventer failed to perform the function it was designed to perform.

Transocean said the BP suit was an effort by the embattled company to safe face.

"This suit is specious and unconscionable," Transocean said in a statement.