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More hearings planned for BP spill

The Q4000 burns off oil and gas in a huge flare at the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout site in the Gulf of Mexico July 10, 2010. BP is changing the device capturing oil from the leaking well and plans to have a new, more efficient device in place in seven days, though in the meantime oil is gushing unchecked from the well. UPI/A.J. Sisco.
1 of 5 | The Q4000 burns off oil and gas in a huge flare at the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout site in the Gulf of Mexico July 10, 2010. BP is changing the device capturing oil from the leaking well and plans to have a new, more efficient device in place in seven days, though in the meantime oil is gushing unchecked from the well. UPI/A.J. Sisco. | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The House Natural Resource Committee said it scheduled a full oversight hearing next week to get a clearer picture of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

A government report on the April 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico found BP, Transocean and Halliburton violated safety regulations prior to the spill.

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The report was written by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement in the U.S. Interior Department and the U.S. Coast Guard. It determined that the blowout that led to the gas explosion that sunk the platform came from the failure of a cement barrier.

"The failure of the cement barrier allowed hydrocarbons to flow up the wellbore, through the riser and onto the rig, resulting in the blowout," the report said."The precise reasons for the failure of the production casing cement job are not known."

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources said he scheduled a Sept. 23 oversight hearing on the report.

"We have waited far too long for this report but the committee is ready to take action and a hearing is now officially scheduled for next week," he said. "I'm confident that with a far more complete reporting of the facts, we will be able to take a thoughtful approach to real reforms to ensure continued safe American energy production."

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BP this summer announced new standards that include the mandatory use of better and more closely monitored blow-out preventers and cement. BP said it also required a more comprehensive oil spill response plan from contractors.

Transocean in a June report said BP didn't verify that Halliburton tested the cementing process.

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