Source: NOLA.com

Hearings: Transocean official denies BP pressured them to complete work quickly
By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
May 27, 2010, 9:34AM

Transocean's top drilling official on the Deepwater Horizon said he was wrapped up with hosting top BP officials in the hours before his rig blew up April 20, but he denied Thursday that his crew was under any pressure from BP to complete its work more quickly.

Under tough questioning by Jason Mathews of the federal Minerals Management Service, the rig's offshore installation manager, Jimmy Harrell, said the cost of delays at the oilfield 50 miles off the Louisiana coast was not compromising safety on the rig.

"So there was no pressure at all about being about $20 million behind?" Mathews asked, referring to documents showing the Deepwater Horizon had been scheduled to start work at another oilfield 43 days earlier.

"I'm sure at times people want to get it done and want to meet timelines," said Harrell in his gravely Mississippi drawl. "But never to jeopardize safety."



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