BP launches safety overhaul
TEXT OF STORY
BOB MOON: The British oil giant BP is launching a major safety overhaul. The move has been triggered by last year’s fatal fire in the company’s Texas City refinery. From London, Stephen Beard reports.
STEPHEN BEARD: BP will carry out a huge company-wide review.
The project involving a team of 90 will take up to 10 years to complete. Every single operation throughout the BP empire will be examined.
The overhaul was prompted by the Texan refinery blast which killed fifteen workers.
But Carola Hoyos of the Financial Times says BP’s many other US problems, like its Alaskan oil spill also played a part. The company is under the spotlight as never before:
CAROLA HOYOS: There’s been political pressure in the US . There’s been investor pressure – especially from investors here in the UK. And I think BP feels that it’s sitting in a glass box.
BP’s safety review is similar to Exxon’s after its tanker spill at Valdez in Alaska in 1989. That shakeup helped turn Exxon into one of the safest and most financially successful oil groups in the world.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
