The Government records have uncovered that federal inspectors failed to initiate nearly a 33% of the necessary inspections on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the 28 months, before it exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

MMS reports, including one released three weeks prior to the catastrophic April 20 explosion, suggest that the rig's blowout preventer was alright and was properly functioning. However, they were silent of any persistent issues with rise of natural gas, or "kicks", flowing up via the well and hampering the drilling process.

The inspections carried out by the Minerals Management Service into the probe revealed to discover no sign of trouble on BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, as per the documents released on Friday on the Interior Department's website.

Despite, the fact that the cause of the disaster remains under investigation, experts have already announced a natural gas surge to be behind the explosion.

"It appears that the Deepwater Horizon experienced dangerous gas 'kicks' before the April 20 disaster", said David Pettit, a Senior Attorney and Drilling Expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who reviewed the inspection reports on Friday.

The rig task is reported to be inspected only three times over the first four months of this year; nine times in 2009 and six times in 2008, despite prior orders by the federal regulations to conduct inspections monthly.