Testimony in the liability phase of British Petroleum's trial in New Orleans was completed this week. British Petroleum rested its case on Wednesday at 6pm. The trial's next phase will determine the size of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and what BP did to stop the release of gas and oil. The blowout was not capped until July 15, 2010, three months later. The number of barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico has been a contested issue since it bears directly on the calculation of damages for violating the Clean Water Act. Testimony from a former Transocean executive was presented by BP as part of its strategy to deflect responsibility for the blowout that spewed some 4.9 billion barrels of crude into the sea. A 2011 report given to BP concluded the the blowout preventer did not cut the drill pipe and seal the well because its automatic mode failed to function. Previous testimony has discounted the possibility that the preventer was defective. The BP witness also said the equipment was suitable for the Macondo well, and wrote a 2003 report critical of the industry for not taking time to maintain preventer equipment calling it a "common and very costly issue confronting all offshore drilling contractors." A twenty-seven volt battery powering the preventer's shear circuits was found depleted since it had not been replaced for three years.BP's vice-president of drilling for the Gulf who was inspecting the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the accident testified he heard someone ask the rig's master if he should activate the preventer given explosions had occurred, a fire had broken out on the drilling floor, and drilling mud was raining down on rig personnel. The master replied he did not have permission from his boss to activate the preventer's emergency disconnect system. British Petroleum owned the Macondo well and the offshore lease into which it was drilled, and hired Transocean at its drilling contractor.