By Tom Harris 28 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 130 views]
Related articles
New boss, and already things are looking better at BP. Yesterday, amidst all the bleak talk of its massive loss, some good news was all but missed. In fact, it may have been just about the best bit of news on BP for a very long time.
Before we tell you about the good news, here are a few more comments on the departure of Tony Hayward.
He looked a dejected figure yesterday, and when he described himself as demonised, you can understand why.
Some commentators in the US media said that there was never anything anti British about the BP media coverage. Some think that the US public will warm to BP when they hear its new boss, Bob Dudley, speak, and the clear tones of his American are revealed. But then other commentators disagree, and say the US public were indifferent about Hayward’s British accent, and it was what he said that upset them, rather than his accent.
But then again, these commentators themselves may have missed the point. Tony Hayward clearly was upset over the BP debacle. Very upset indeed. But his British sense of understatement meant that his feelings were not made obvious.
His problems in the US were not so much related to there being an anti British feeling, but did relate to a cultural misunderstanding.
As the saying goes, Britain and America: two countries separated by a common language.
There is something terribly ironic about Mr Dudley’s appointment being greeted with talk of a new era of safety first at BP. This is precisely what was said when Hayward was promoted to the role of BP CEO.
Mr Hayward reckons that once the exhaustive inquiry has finished, it will be concluded that BP’s safety procedures were in no way inferior to those at its rivals. BP was just unlucky.
Talking of luck, before he has had time to sit comfortably at his new desk, BP’s new boss has got good news to contend with.
According to a report on Bloomberg, the oil currently floating on the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico is dissipating fast.
It is all a bit scientific. First there was the Loop Current that took the oil towards the Florida coast, then a counter flow of eddies, known locally as Eddy Franklin, met the current, with a circular flow being created. So, much of the spilled oil is in a loop. It won’t stay there for ever, and the Loop Current will force it towards the Florida coast eventually. But the latest studies suggest that by then the oil will have evaporated.
It could be very good news indeed, and could ultimately reduce BP’s bill quite significantly.
You see what a difference a new boss makes?
