It Aint My Fault! Oil CEO’s Point Fingers At Each Other Over Gulf Spill

‘It’s their fault!’ Three of the major oil companies in the world, BP America, Halliburton, and Transocean went in front of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee early Tuesday morning to testify about the disastrous oil-rig explosion that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. The CEO’s went in front of the Committee and pointed fingers at each other like third grade students. SMH. Pop the hood

Lamar McKay, President and Chairmen of BP America, stressed that the rig was not technically theirs, stating that it actually belonged to Transocean.

“Transocean, as owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, had responsibility for the safety of drilling operations,” said Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America. In particular, McKay drew attention to the valve that was supposed to shut off the well in case of an accident. The valve, known as a blowout preventer (BOP), is owned by Transocean.

“Clearly, the BOP remains a critical piece of equipment throughout all operations to ensure well control,” said McKay.

Steven Newman, Transocean’s president and CEO said it’s the responsibility of the well’s owner to set all specifications for the drilling process.

“All offshore oil and gas production projects begin and end with the operator … in this case, BP,” Newman said. “Here was a sudden, catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing, or both,” he said. “Without a failure of one of those elements, the explosion could not have occurred.”

The well’s cementing was done by Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500). But Halliburton’s chief safety and environmental officer, Tim Probert, said responsibility lay with either Transocean or BP.

“The casing shoe was cemented some 20 hours prior to the tragic incident,” said Probert. “Had the BOP functioned as expected, this catastrophe may well not have occurred.”

During the cementing of the well, Halliburton simply followed BP’s instructions, he said.

“Halliburton, as a service provider to the well owner, is contractually bound to comply with the well owner’s instructions on all matters relating to the performance of all work-related activities,” he said.

This is a MESS! No one wants to take responsibility for what happened in the Gulf of Mexico late last month. All three CEO’s are giving the government the run around about what really happened and are trying to get out of paying billion of dollars to fix the problem.

The true problem is that money is needed for all the states on the coast to protect their seafood stock. The industry is worth 8 billion dollars. If no help is given, the states on the coast will suffer.

We think these CEO’s better cut their checks in half and help the people on the Gulf coast save their industry… Or else they should pay up big time.

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