When Bob Dudley takes over the reins at BP on Friday he will face a daunting task and a bulging in-tray. He will be aware that his new job is a personal poisoned chalice, having effectively destroyed the careers of three of his predecessors: Tony Hayward, John Browne and Bob Horton have all left in … Read More
BP
“Brazil is the future for the oil industry”..
Are investors put off by the risks of ultra deepwater drilling after the Deepwater Horizon disaster? If the frenzy down in Brazil is anything to go by â the answer is a staggering no. Brazilâs national oil company, Petrobras, has just raised a whopping $70bn in the biggest share issue in corporate history. And the … Read More
BP Will Survive, But What About the Others?
It is not rocket science that fickle City investors responded to the news of BPâs final plugging of the Macondo well by sending the company’s share price rising. BP’s share price rose by just under 2 per cent to $38.68, helping to recover a small portion of the billions wiped off BP’s market capitalisation during … Read More
âDead Wellâ is a Just a Bump in the Road
So finally the well is dead. After 153 days, 5 million barrels spilt and a $10 billion bill so far, BPâs well is officially sealed. Although no crude has leaked from the well since BP capped it on July 15, the only way to permanently seal it was a bottom kill from the relief well. … Read More
If only BP had stayed true to Beyond Petroleum….
âIf BP had stayed true to its âBeyond Petroleum positioning, it is likely that a disaster of this magnitude would not have occurred.â So says the global brand consultancy, Interbrand, in its annual branding report that shows that BP has tumbled out of the worldâs top brands due to Deepwater. So BP may be within … Read More
No Dead Zones, Just a Dead Bottom
So there is good news and bad from the latest science from the spill. Last week the US government agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, released a report on dissolved oxygen levels in the Gulf Ocean. Oxygen levels are important â once … Read More
Spill Scientists Face Funding Crisis
So there were no surprises last week when BP published its whitewash into the Deepwater Horizon disaster. âBP report clears BP of blame in BP disasterâ was how American comedians saw it. The fallout from the report, that concluded that âNo single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy,â will continue though. The scientific fall out … Read More
âProbably the most notorious branding crisis in memoryâ
First Greenpeace ran a competition to help BP redesign its logo, and now the Washington Post is running a competition for the public to suggest slogans to help BP repair its battered image. The competition is running until tomorrow noon, if anyone wants to have a go. So far the entries are pretty predictable: BP=Best … Read More
Scientists Say Health and Seafood At-Risk from Spill
BPâs spill does pose threats to human health and seafood safety, according to a new study published by the peer-reviewed scientific Journal of the American Medical Association. The report comes days after President Obama swam in the Gulf at Panama City Beach and made of point of eating seafood for the cameras. “Beaches all along … Read More
Upto 80% of BP oil still in the Gulf, say scientists
When the US government announced three-quarters of the oil from BPâs leak âhas already evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise eliminated” and what was left posed no risk, I said that the findings would be controversial. What I didnât say is that they would be blatantly challenged by scientists as wildly wrong. Scientists from the … Read More