BP Plc filed suit Wednesday - on the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill - against Transocean Ltd, which owned and operated the ill-fated drilling rig, dpa reported.
BP is seeking billions of dollars in damages for the spill in the Gulf of Mexico from Switzerland-based Transocean.
BP's complaint was filed in federal court in New Orleans, Bloomberg News reported.
"The simple fact is that on April 20, 2010, every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon failed, resulting in the casualty," London-based BP alleged in the lawsuit.
BP accused Transocean of "misconduct" that led to the explosion and fire that sank the Deepwater Horizon and left the blown out Macondo well to spew oil for months.
Eleven workers on board the drilling rig died in the accident, which became the worst offshore oil spill in US history.
BP took a pre-tax charge of 41 billion dollars last years in connection to the spill.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against BP and Transocean, as well as oilfield services firm Halliburton Corp and other companies.
A Transocean spokesman told Bloomberg that the BP lawsuit was "specious and unconscionable" and blamed the oil company for decisions that led to the disaster.