BP’s Hayward Says Oil Spill Was Personally ‘Devastating’

Posted on Sep 15, 2010

bbc.co.uk

Outgoing: BP’s Hayward speaks to members of the British Parliament on Wednesday.

His tenure as BP’s chief executive is almost up, and outgoing CEO Tony Hayward has changed his tune about the effect that last spring’s cataclysmic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had on him personally, making public statements in England on Wednesday that sounded far more contrite than the frustrated and widely panned “I want my life back” comment he made before a U.S. congressional committee last May.  —KA

BBC:

The Commons Energy Committee is questioning both Mr Hayward and BP’s head of safety, Mark Bly, on the firm’s attitude to safety.

Asked whether BP paid sufficient regard to safety matters, Mr Hayward told the committee that over the past three years the company had made a major investment in safety, spending $14bn (£9bn) and recruiting thousands of people.

“And it is undeniably the fact that because of all of that, this particular incident is so devastating to me personally because we have made an enormous amount of progress in that three-year period,” he said.

My Hayward’s demeanour was in contrast to when he faced a US Congressional committee, when he appeared crushed and evasive.

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