The investigation of the Gulf of Mexico Macondo well blowout, rig explosion, and oil spill has found significant regulatory and operations gaps that need to be closed, government and industry witnesses told a National Academies of Science committee studying the Apr. 20 event and its causes."When the inspector looks at the fit-for-purpose state of the drilling rig, he looks for a certificate from the [US] Coast Guard or flag state," said David Dykes, chief of the field operations safety management office in the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement's Gulf of Mexico Region."There's a misunderstanding of what the certificate means," Dykes said,...