As BP prepared over the next few days to permanently seal its Macondo well, there is growing evidence that its use of dispersants is going to have severe political, ecological and legal ramifications.
The political fall-out from their use intensified last week.
Ed Markey, the Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote to the US [...]

Yesterday Shell waded into the Deepwater fall-out by defending deep-water drilling.
Peter Voser, Shell chief executive, argued that deep-water drilling still had an important role to play in global energy supply. “We have got growth potential there”.
But what cost is this growth?
Even the industry’s own trade magazines are questioning the business as usual scenario. One such [...]

So we are 100 days into this disaster and what has changed?
Well we have a new CEO of BP. The straight talking American Bob Dudley argues that the Gulf of Mexico spill has been “wake-up call not only for BP, but the oil and gas industry overall”.
But will this wake-up call change the industry for [...]

Dear Tony,
So I thought I would say goodbye.
Except that it is not really goodbye today is it. You are hanging on until October, but what you are going to do for another couple of months, I am not sure?
Even then you aren’t really leaving are you? Not content with $1 million / a year for [...]

The details are still being worked out. The BP Board meets this afternoon.
But if the press reports are anything to go by, the company’s embattled CEO, Tony Hayward will walk away with anything from at least £11 million to £12 million plus. That’s about $18.5 million.
And that’s the low estimate. The huge amount is likely [...]