When ex-BP boss, Tony Hayward said last year that “This was not our accident … This was not our drilling rig. This was not our equipment. It was not our people, our systems or our processes,” you know that history would prove him to be wrong. This was BP’s accident. Today, the Official Report into … Read More
Offshore
Another $20 Billion Bill for BP
Shares in BP are falling this morning – 3 per cent in early trading so far – on the news that it could face penalties of $21 billion-plus if found fully liable for damages in a US federal lawsuit regarding the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster. But BP is not alone. The US Department of Justice … Read More
Deepwater’s Forgotten Villain
When you think of the Deepwater disaster earlier this year, of course the main company responsible for the spill that springs to mind is BP, the operator of the rig. The next villain in the story is Transocean, the owner of the rig. One name that does not automatically jump out is Anadarko, the minority … Read More
BP Disaster Adds to Oil Major “Identity Crisis”
Its not a new concept that the oil majors are struggling to come up with new reserves, but its not often that it is written in black and white. Well pink, actually. Today’s Financial Times has one of its special reports on Energy. It combines two of the recurring themes I have written about on … Read More
BP: Stilling Passing Blame
Out with the old. In with the new. When BP ceremoniously dumped bumbling gaffe-prone Tony Hayward after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and ushered in smooth-talking Bob Dudley, it was meant to herald a new era in the troubled giant’s history. But the disaster still wrangles BP badly. And it is no surprise therefore that … Read More
Offshore Safety Inspections Were Compromised
Ask anyone who works say as a teacher about being inspected by government officials and they say that it is the surprise inspections that matter. If you have weeks of notice about an inspection you by its very nature have to make sure everything is in order. The kids are all behaving themselves at the … Read More
Spill panel slams White House; warns over Arctic drilling
Back at the height of the BP oil spill, President Obama asked a commission to find out “what worked and didn’t” in the government’s response to the disaster. Well the bad news for Obama is that much didn’t work, making grim reading for the President and forcing the White House to hit back at some … Read More
Chevron Safety Inspections Could be Compromised
Late last week, the British government gave the goahead for the American oil company, Chevron to start drilling a deepwater exploratory well as part of its Lagavulin project in the waters north of the Shetland Islands. In a highly controversial move, it is the first time the new British Coalition government has granted permission for … Read More
Why Bob Has to be Wary of the “Bunker”
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
It’s as if Deepwater Never Happened..
When the Deepwater disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico four months ago, many commentators argued that this was a “game changer” that would change the energy debate forever. Politicians and the public would realise that the ecological and social cost of offshore drilling was becoming unacceptable, the thinking went. If you morph the lessons … Read More