Third-Party BOP Verifications in the Gulf of Mexico

OIG investigated allegations that a company conducted substandard independent third-party blowout preventer (BOP) verifications on offshore oil and gas platforms and may have falsified BOP verifications. We found that the Federal regulation mandating third-party BOP verifications does not have specific standards for completing verifications. We did not identify any instances of the company falsifying or misrepresenting BOP verifications to the Federal Government. We provided this report to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and did not require a response.