© Gerald Herbert/Associated PressThe Deepwater Horizon ablaze on April 21, the day after the oil rig exploded
Several days before the explosion on the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.
The concern with the method BP chose, the document said, was that if the cement around the casing pipe did not seal properly, gases could leak all the way to the wellhead, where only a single seal would serve as a barrier.
Using a different type of casing would have provided two barriers, according to the document, which was provided to
The New York Times by a Congressional investigator.
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