Peter Reynolds

Good Job

I am really very impressed with BP’s Chief Executive.  He is doing the best possible job for his company – and probably for all concerned.  His appearance on the Andrew Marr show this morning was an object lesson in how to handle such a crisis.  He is suitably contrite.  He is direct, honest, loyal, everything that any board of directors or committee of shareholders could ask for.  Crucially, in the TV age, he looks right.  His appearance is an exact match for his message.

Here is a man who is worth every penny of a salary I would expect to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I’m no fan or friend of big oil companies.  There’s little doubt in my mind that BP and Esso/Exxon, the world’s biggest, operate an effective cartel on fuel prices.  They’re so big that no government can do anything about it.

I don’t think you can blame BP for the disaster although obviously it is responsible.  Clearly, you have to ensure that all possible safety standards and procedures are complied with but, given that, it could have happened to any oil company, anywhere.  There’s no more greed in BP than anywhere else. It’s just a business trying to make a profit like any other.

I deplore the oil spill just as I approve of motherhood and apple pie.  I understand that Obama has to give BP an appropriate amount of flak but the important point is how it is dealing with the disaster and all its consequences.  From what I see I think we should all be grateful that Tony Hayward is the man in charge.