BP CEO Apologizes For Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

Posted in BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Environment,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News,Texas Maritime News,World Maritime News on March 9, 2011

HOUSTON, TX – In a speech at a major oil industry conference held Tuesday, March 8, in Houston, BP CEO Robert Dudley apologized for the worst oil spill disaster created in the history of the United States.

“This is the first chance I have had to address such a large gathering of industry colleagues and the first thing I want to say is that I am sorry for what happened last year,” Dudley told the CERAWeek conference in a speech titled “New Era, New Responsibilities.”

Forbes.com reports:

Dudley said BP was working to earn back the trust of the industry, state and federal leaders and Gulf Coast residents, in part by upping efforts to improve safety. That includes shutdowns of two offshore oil and gas production platforms to repair faulty equipment, and shutting down a producing field to enable pipeline integrity work.

BP has been heavily criticized for failing to shut down the Macondo operation when repeated problems with drilling arose in the days before the deadly blowout.

Dudley did not identify the field or platforms he said were shut down for repair work.

He also said BP would not sign contracts with drillers whose rigs don’t meet BP standards, “and there are a number of cases where we have either turned away rigs or are negotiating for modifications which could bring the rig up to our standards.”

BP is responsible for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico killing 11 oil rig workers and devastating the ecology and economy of the gulf coast.