Transocean accuses BP of stonewalling Deepwater Horizon investigation

Whether they like it or not, BP and Transocean will be linked together for years to come. Sure, like many marriages of convenience, this one has more than its share of bitter memories, but you'd think they'd try to make the best of it and get along.

That doesn't appear to be happening.

In what the Washington Post's Joel Achenbach described as a "scathing" five-page letter, Transocean attorneys accused BP of intentionally refusing to share "even the most basic information" vital to an investigation into what went wrong on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that led to the catastrophe.

The letter accuses BP of "withholding evidence in an attempt to prevent any entity other than BP from investigating the cause of the April 20th incident and the resulting spill." Transocean also said it initially balked at BP's request that the rig company sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of exchanging documents. Transocean's attorneys also stipulated that Transocean executives didn't want any secrecy requirement imposed on BP. However, they eventually gave in.

"Transocean believes in a fair and transparent investigation," the letter stated. "Ultimately, and despite our reservations, we agreed to BP's condition of secrecy because there is no other source of key well data."

Still, they claim, BP has not been forthcoming, and hasn't produced a single document since June 21.

Responding to the accusations in the letter, BP attorney James Neath labeled it "nothing more than a publicity stunt evidently designed to draw attention away from Transocean's potential role in the Deepwater Horizon tragedy." Neath claimed that BP has surrendered more than 100,000 documents in the internal investigation by Transocean, the results of which he demanded be made public.

(Photo: AP/Coast Guard)