Salazar hails first oil rig probe report

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says an interim report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will "raise the bar" for safety in offshore drilling operations.

The report was prepared by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council, a Department of the Interior release said Wednesday.

"I appreciate the rigorous work the experts on the NAE and NRC team have undertaken to understand the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill," Salazar said.

"Their independent, science-based analysis of what went wrong in the lead up to the blowout will help guide our continuing efforts to raise the bar for safety and oversight of offshore oil and gas operations, and will be of assistance to other ongoing investigations," he said.

The interim report said most of the multiple theories suggested with regard to the specific failure mechanism and hydrocarbon pathway that led to the blowout of the Macondo well center on the effectiveness of cementing a production casing to prepare the well for temporary abandonment, the Interior Department release said.

The NAE and NRC Committee said it expects to complete its final report by June 2011.