BP wasn't alone in this failed process though they may have been leading it. That others are called to answer for their behavior makes sense.
Companies partnered with BP in developing the crippled Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico could possibly also be targeted in the sweeping criminal investigation under way in Washington, Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, will say this morning.
Any switch of attention to the other players in the disaster, likely to include Transocean, owner of the doomed rig, may offer partial relief for BP which so far has been alone in taking the wrath of the White House and shouldering the costs of the catastrophe, which last week topped $3bn (£2bn).
"There are a variety of entities and a variety of people who are the subjects of that investigation," Mr Holder says of his department's probe, in an interview with Bob Schieffer of CBS, to be broadcast in the US today. "For people to conclude that BP is the focus of this investigation might not be correct."
