Oil Watchdog

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hayward’s ‘scary’ testimony Liveblog by Khan In response to Rep. Burgess’ questions concerning the specific nature of the Macondo well, Hayward continues to assert that he does not have specific information, demonstrating an embarassing [or legally clever] lack of technical knowledge. Burgess then asks about the mechanics of BP’s other wells in the Gulf of [...]

Hayward’s Dodger Strategy

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hayward dodging all questions Liveblog by Khan BP CEO Hayward has a clear strategy to the tough questions that he’s receiving from committee members. In response to questions from Rep. Stupak concerning whether BP "cut corners", Hayward said it was too "early to tell", citing 7 areas of study in ongoing investigations. When citing BP’s [...]

Hayward: We will not rest

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hayward: We will not rest until we make this right Liveblog by Khan As we recess to give committee members time to make Congressional votes, Hayward has just finished his opening statement. Nothing particularly notable was said–an expected mix of sorrow and determination to clean up the spill and figure out what went wrong: [...]

Rep. Waxman’s Opening Statement

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Rep. Waxman’s opening statement indicates that the committee on the Democratic side will focus on: 1) What BP’s internal documents warned about the Deepwater Horizons well 2) What was missing from these documents in terms of what Hayward had done to, as he promised:"[focus] like a laser on safe and reliable operations." What safety measures [...]

LiveBlog: Oh Tillerson…

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Rex Tillerson, chief executive of ExxonMobil, has had the most revealing testimony thus far. In response to probing questions by Rep. Dingell concerning, once again, why the contingency plans are virtually identical to each other, Tillerson says that the similarity isn’t notable. "The ‘cookie cutter’ description…should not come as much of a surprise." The oil [...]

LiveBlog: Shoulda Coulda Woulda

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Shoulda Coulda Woulda by Khan "What would you have done to prevent the spill?" seems to be a prevalent theme in the questions from committee members thus far. Rep. Waxman probes enough to produce specific problems with BP’s well that the other executives assert would not exist if they were in charge–"casing design", for [...]

Liveblog: BP’s ‘Dead’ Phone Numbers

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Why do you have phone numbers for dead people in your contingency plan? …asks Chairman Markey. Markey questions each of the five executives whether it is appropriate to have phone numbers listed for "long-dead" experts and references to "walruses" that have been extinct in the Gulf for quite a while in their oil spill contingency [...]

LiveBlog: Big Oil Hearing

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

LiveBlogging the Energy & Commerce Hearing with Oil Executives This morning executives from five of the largest oil companies in the U.S. – ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP America, and Shell – are testifying before the Energy & Environment subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive, is not present. He [...]

Will BP’s CEO Take the Fifth?

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

06-08-10 by dugan Can BP tell the truth about the causes of the catastrophe it caused in the Gulf of Mexico? A hearing June 17 (date corrected) in the House Energy and Commerce Committee may tell us a lot. BP CEO Tony Hayward is the prime witness, and it looks like the committee may put [...]

Drilling Dereg: Darth Did It

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

6-2-10 by dugan It was Dick Cheney’s secretive, dour demeanor that earned him the nickname "Darth Vader" when he was vice president. But he also had Darth’s slash-and-burn tendencies. Cheney, we now learn, stacked the federal Minerals Management Service with Wyoming pols and oil industry pals who eagerly followed Cheney’s maximum deregulation philosophy. Leading, [...]

BP: Big Bucks for Kings Tix

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

06-01-10 by dugan Many of us recall stories early in BP’s Gulf spill about how catastrophe would probably have been prevented if PB had shelled out $500,000 for an acoustic cutoff switch that would backstop the blowout preventer. Instead, it spent the money lobbying federal regulators to exempt the company from having a credible [...]

Silence of Big Oil in Gulf

Tuesday, May 25, 2010