Critical Time Wasted in Hours After Gulf Spill, BP Executive Tells Panel

HOUSTON -- A BP vice president says critical time was wasted in the hours after the Gulf of Mexico well explosion trying to learn what changes had been made to a device meant to prevent oil from leaking from the blown-out well.

BP executive vice president for drilling and completions Harry Thierens told a panel of federal investigators Wednesday that he was intimately involved in trying to shutdown the well after the explosion April 20.

He says as attempts were being made to shut the well with the blowout preventer it became clear rig-owner Transocean had made changes to the device's locking mechanism. Thierens says it took between 12 hours and 24 hours to get the right drawings of the changes.
In the end, the device failed.