Oil Execs: Don’t Blame Us, Blame BP!

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The heads of four of the country’s largest oil companies told a House panel Tuesday morning that the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and subsequent oil disaster was merely a fluke—their companies operate safely and are adequately prepared to deal with any accidents that may occur.

“This incident represents a dramatic departure from the industry norm in deepwater drilling,” ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson told a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce panel.

When proper procedures, redundancy, inspections, maintenance, and training are in place, “tragic incidents like this one in the Gulf today should not occur,” said Tillerson. He called the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989 a “low-point” in the company’s history and said it had “launched a full-scale, top-to-bottom review of our operations.” Now, he said, “we do not proceed with operations if we cannot do so safely.”

The other executives, representing Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips, offered similar claims—the Gulf disaster was an aberration, one created by BP’s lack of oversight. John Watson, chairman of Chevron, testified that his company’s “drilling and control practices for deepwater wells are safe and environmentally sound” and that a commitment to safety is fundamental to who we are.”

While Watson called the Gulf disaster “humbling,” he argued that it should not be an impediment to future drilling. “We strongly believe that responsible deepwater development must continue: America needs the energy,” said Watson. “And we can produce that energy safely, including in the deepwater.”

James Mulva, CEO of ConocoPhillips, made a similar plea: “The business of offshore exploration will and must continue. It will continue because we can and will do it safely and responsibly. And it must continue, not only for what it yields for our nation, but also because that’s what America does. We learn new lessons and move forward to higher levels of progress and achievement.”

But as the executives testified about their safety and preparation, congressional Democrats pointed out that their companies’ plans for a similar disaster were basically “cookie cutter” copies of BP’s spill plan, all prepared by the same group, the Response Group. The plans include an assessment of the impact of a possible spill on walruses (which don’t live in the Gulf) and the phone number of an expert who died in 2005 (well before the plans were submitted). “ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell are as unprepared as BP,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

“The only technology you seem to be relying on is the Xerox machine,” echoed Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

The hearings are still going; we’ll have more later.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate