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"Whole series of failures" led to oil spill: BP CEO


    MIAMI (Reuters) - BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said on Wednesday a "whole series of failures" led to the blowout of BP's deepwater well and the catastrophic spill of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

    "There were a whole series of failures here, the blowout preventer failed on three separate occasions," Hayward told CNN, adding the company was turning over the findings of its own inquiry to U.S. authorities.

    But he denied that the failures had "anything to do" with the British-based company trying to save costs.

    He called the April 20 well blowout and rig explosion that triggered the spill an "unprecedented accident" and added: "This will be a transforming incident in the history of deepwater exploration".

    (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher)