It is a damning document that may well decide Tony Hayward’s fate. It will certainly give him sleepless nights before his Congressional appearance on Thursday. Remember what Hayward said a few weeks ago. “This was not our accident … This was not our drilling rig. This was not our equipment. It was not our people, … Read More
Gulf of Mexico
A Vital Week for BP – Will it Sink or Swim?
So the viral joke on the internet is that whether it be oil spills or footballs – England can’t contain either. After England goalie Robert Green’s disastrous mistake against the US on Saturday night at the World Cup – can England get anything right? For BP there have been many weeks that have ebbed and … Read More
IEA Says BP Spill is a “Game Changer”
The last 24 hours of news reporting of BP’s oil spill in the UK has shifted from the devastation being wrought on the Gulf of Mexico into one where politicians and businessmen are lambasting President Obama for his “anti-British” rhetoric. A British backlash has begun. True this morning the BBC leads with the news that … Read More
BP: Bye-Bye Dividend Payout
What is being played out now is really quite astonishing. Just a few days ago, BP’s dividend was a seen by City investors as a line in the sand that could not – and would not be – crossed. For BP not to pay would be unthinkable. But the unthinkable is becoming thinkable and increasingly … Read More
BP: Brand Pollution
The general consensus – in the mainstream media and blogosphere – is that Tony Hayward is now toast. He will probably survives long enough to give evidence to Congress next week, but more and more people are betting he will be gone by Xmas. Obama banged another nail in Hayward’s coffin yesterday when he said … Read More
BP Manipulates the Web
The online public relations battle is hotting up. BP may be losing the twitter war but is doing its damndest to make sure it won’t lose the Google war. According to ABC News, BP has purchased several phrases on search engines such as Google and Yahoo so that online users get directed to the company’s … Read More
BP Losing Twitter War
BP has a problem. No its not the tens of millions of gallons of crude oil floating or submerged in the Gulf of Mexico. No its not the countless wildlife or fish or shrimps dying across the Gulf. No its not the thousands of livelihoods destroyed by the spill No its not the billions wiped … Read More
Revealed: BP’s PR Company’s Links to Number 10
BP’s spin machine kicked up another gear yesterday as the company started airing adverts on American television showing the company’s embattled Tony Hayward apologising to those affected by the spill. “We will get this done. We will get this right,” says a contrite looking Haywood at the end. The adverts come on a crucial day … Read More
Swords Sharpen for Hayward: Dividend the Key Issue
Just a few weeks ago the online debate would have been unthinkable. But today, the Times newspaper, Britain’s bastion of the establishment and the powerhouse of the Murdoch media empire, is asking its readers whether the embattled boss of BP should fall on his sword and resign. The swords and knives are certainly being sharpened. … Read More
“It’s got the real smell of death”
And no, we are not talking about the seas of the Gulf of Mexico, where an unknown amount of wildlife is dying and will die due to BP’s oil spill. And no, we are not talking about the nationally renowned wetlands of Louisiana where the oil is having an unseen effect like an undiagnosed cancer. … Read More