Exxon Distances Itself From BP's `Dramatic Departure' in Gulf

Federal investigators must determine if BP Plc took risks “beyond industry norms” with the Gulf of Mexico well that exploded and caused the worst U.S. oil spill, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson said.

The April 20 disaster that killed 11 workers and sank Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig “represents a dramatic departure” from the track record of deep-water oil explorers, Tillerson said in remarks prepared for a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel hearing today.

Something went wrong at the BP project about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) below the sea surface that hasn’t happened at the 14,000 other deep-water wells drilled without incident worldwide, Tillerson said. The catastrophe has damaged livelihoods and coastal environments and will cause loss of public trust in the oil industry, he said.

“We need to know if the levels of risk taken went beyond industry norms,” said Tillerson, who oversees a company that pumps more oil than every member of OPEC except Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

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http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-15/exxon-distances-itself-from-bp-s-dramatic-departure-in-gulf-oil-disaster.html

The alternative, that this whole mess is regarded as some rare but not exceptional event, would bring down the entire industry.

Well, if it sheds more light on the inept and criminal decisions and practices by BP, it's got to be a good thing.

:thumbsup:

Sure seems like Republicans grow them by the bushel-full.

:kick:

Repeated court challenges got it whittled down to $500 million in 2008 -- thanks to the fascist supreme court.

Like Exxon could *ever* look good.

$500 million is like bubble-gum money for them. twenty-one years after the fact.