Markey: Committee has faced problems 'prying' info from BP

A senior House Democrat investigating the BP oil spill said Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean’s problems obtaining documents from the British oil giant are similar to troubles lawmakers have experienced.

“Given the difficulty that our committee has sometimes encountered in prying information out of BP, I am not surprised that Transocean — which may end up in litigation against BP in the future — is encountering similar difficulties,” said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a top member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, in a statement Thursday.

Transocean, a major offshore drilling contractor, owned the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico April 20 while drilling BP’s Macondo well, touching off the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The company accused BP in a letter Wednesday of withholding documents vital to probes of the accident and spill, claims that BP calls “misleading.”



“I would like to see BP show greater openness in making all data publicly available,” Markey added in his statement.

“It is quite clear that all of these decisions are being made by BP's attorneys, who are likely preparing to mount an aggressive posture in any future litigation.

“How BP and Transocean resolve their dispute over these documents is a matter for them to work out. I am more focused on ensuring that Congress, the president's spill commission and the American public have full access to all of the data relevant to this disaster,” Markey said.

Markey chairs the Energy and Environment subcommittee.