Asia-Pacific
Gulf spill will 'forever' change drilling-BP exec
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-07 08:48
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BOSTON - The explosion and sinking of a BP Plc oil rig and subsequent massive oil spill will "forever" change the offshore drilling industry, a top executive with the London-based oil giant said on Thursday.
"There is no doubt that this event will change the offshore industry forever, around the globe," said Robert Dudley, executive vice president for the Americas and Asia at BP, told the Boston College Chief Executives Club.
The leak, which occurred almost a mile under the surface of the ocean, threatens the coastline of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and could rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, as the worst US oil spill.
"Once the clean up is done, the investigation is complete and the lessons learned and spread around the globe from this activity occurring (at) the frontiers of human effort, we will consider the trade-offs of exploring for new sources of domestic energy in the frontiers of deep water," Dudley said.
A company spokesman said that Dudley was referring to society's embrace of oil exploration, not to specific plans being considered by BP.
Dudley defended BP against criticism in some corners that, as a foreign-headquartered company, it that might not act in the best interests of the United States.
"As a company, we have 28,000 employees (in the United States). We've got multiple times that of pensioners, we've got a majority of our shareholders in the United States," he said.
"We think we're woven into the fabric of the United States and we want to be here for a long, long time."
