Tag Archives: BP
No clean start for BP
CLEAN START? Producing oil may be a high risk business, particularly if you plumb unmanageable depths in the world’s oceans. But BP’s problem stems from its first priority: producing profits.
Who pays BP’s disaster bill? You do
If you thought the multi-billion dollar costs of destroying refineries and oil rigs (and killing workers, ruining livelihoods and wrecking the environment in the process), might have a chastening effect on BP, you might need to think again. An entry in the blog of nationally syndicated US journalist Thom Hartmann notes: “It looks like the [...]
UK government to adopt BP business model
John Browne, Tony Hayward’s predecessor as chief executive of BP, has been appointed by the UK government to oversee moves to make Whitehall “more businesslike.” Lord Browne was the architect of the much criticised BP cost- and safety-cutting strategy implicated in the Texas City refinery disaster, which killed 15, and a sequence of other safety [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Deepwater Horizon, deregulation, John Browne, Lord Browne, oil industry, regulation 2 Comments
Oil companies all fail the safety test
Members of the US Congress tore into the big energy corporations on 15 June for filing almost identical Gulf of Mexico oil spill response plans – which included contact details for a deceased scientist and steps to protect marine mammals not found in the region’s waters. Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell all have identical response [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Chevron, compensation fund, ConocoPhillips, Exxon-Mobil, President Obama, Shell, UK, US 2 Comments
Competition: Spot the idiotic inconsistency
It’s a story that owes more to the ostrich than the oil covered pelican. The 14 June screen grab from the front page of the UK Prime Minister’s website shows David Cameron in a phone call to US President Barack Obama, discussing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill calamity. Cameron’s spokesperson commented: “The prime minister [...]
Don’t demonise BP bosses, jail them
Can you have serial crimes but no criminal? BP’s well-heeled directors have proved as slippery as the gulf’s oil smeared coastline, with none so far facing criminal charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster or other deadly incidents. BP’s cavalier but usually profitable management practices have been implicated in a series of disasters. The company [...]
Rig explosion killed, spill made workers sick
A chemical dispersant being used to fight the gulf oil spill is making workers sick, recent reports suggest. The disaster, where BP has repeatedly failed to stem the oil gusher and which started with a 20 April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers, has led to an increasing clamour for criminal [...]
We told you BP couldn’t be trusted
US President Barack Obama has vowed to end the “cosy relationship” between oil companies and US regulators in the light of the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster. He also condemned “the ridiculous spectacle” of oil executives “falling over each other to point the finger of blame,” the BBC and other media reported. Federal regulators [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Center for Public Integrity, Deepwater Horizon, Hazards, OSHA, Texas City Refinery 2 Comments
Deadly criminals need policing
Whether the problem is blood spilled in the workplace or oil spilled in the oceans, a series of recent disasters show why more regulation of profit-hungry industries is needed. “Twenty-nine dead coal miners in West Virginia, seven dead workers at an oil refinery in Washington State and 11 dead on a Gulf of Mexico oil [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Health and Safety Executive, Leo Gerard, Massey Energy, USW Leave a comment
Deregulation’s deadly reality gulf