Thread: The letter sent by one of Britain's top business figures to President Barack Obama

Originally Posted by thehighlander959

BP employs 30,000 people in the USA.If the US Federal Government is hell bent on destroying BP, there is going to be a lot of people looking for work in this downturn in the US.

39% of the company stock is held in the US too.

Originally Posted by Humbert

BP's response is improving but they have been evasive, sometimes glib and hugely ineffective in dealing with the problem.

I disagree, you only have to take a look at the BP website, I bet very little of what it says here is getting a mention in the US media, it doesn't suit the 'devil' image. Gulf of Mexico response | Oil spill | BP

Originally Posted by thehighlander959

Quite embarrassing for a superpower don,t you think??

Yes, America is an embarrassment.

Originally Posted by sccrhound

and employees on the rig are saying that the cap was changed the day of the disaster on orders of a BP employee.

Link?

Originally Posted by English Noodles

Originally Posted by Humbert

BP's response is improving but they have been evasive, sometimes glib and hugely ineffective in dealing with the problem.

I disagree, you only have to take a look at the BP website, I bet very little of what it says here is getting a mention in the US media, it doesn't suit the 'devil' image. Gulf of Mexico response | Oil spill | BP

I don't think they are evil at all. I think they are dealing with a very tough problem and have gotten some pretty shitty treatment by the American press, particularly CNN. However, I think Tony Hayward made some verbal blunders that brought on a shit storm and he should have known better, as CEO, that he would be judged severely. I don't think any company, regardless of nationality, would have done any better coping with the physical problems - public relations, not so sure.

Originally Posted by Humbert

public relations, not so sure.

They employ the same American company to help and advise on public relations as GM, Lockheed Martin, google, Boing, The state of Florida, the list continues. The company is called The Podesta Group, and in fact, the Thai government has also just hired them to work on the countries international image.

Originally Posted by English Noodles

Originally Posted by Humbert

public relations, not so sure.

They employ the same American company to help and advise on public relations as GM, Lockheed Martin, google, Boing, The state of Florida, the list continues. The company is called The Podesta Group, and in fact, the Thai government has also just hired them to work on the countries international image.

My point has always been that this is not a British v. America issue. You and others correctly point out that the management and ownership is multi-national. BP should be viewed as an international corporation not some British marauder.
And it doesn't surpise me a bit that their PR firm is American - nationality is not an arbiter of competence.

Originally Posted by English Noodles

The Rig was Contracted from Transocean, an American Major, The Cementing That failed was by Haliburton, an American Major Company, The BOP that failed came from Cameron an American Major company.

BP should maybe exclude all American companies from its bidders list.

Halliburton etc being subcontractors is irrelevant.

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

Initially, yes. Later on BP will certainly make sure they get their pound of flesh from the companies who actually performed incompetently.

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

There will be a multitude of court cases, attorneys, judges, conciliation and arbitration panels and so forth that will be deciding that in coming years.

But I doubt the likes of Halliburton, Tran Oceans and Cameron International are as complacent as you appear to be on this point.

^

Maybe the US Government in Washington should take this into account, as I recall when the spill initiated the company was being called BP.

Shortly afterwards the US government spin doctors changed the name to British Petroleum to suit the government and public opinion and to ensure that the blame went to a foreign based company.

No mention of the other international companies involved Transocean (USA) (Cayman Islands) now Switzerland thus ensuring 16% tax paid in Switzerland as compared to the US Governments 35% tax.

Haliburton the US Governments biggest oilfield support and Defence contractor worldwide with contracts in USA,Iraq and Afghanistan to name but a few.

However there Corporate base has moved to Dubai UAE fron Houston Texas this move was completed for tax reasons.

Oh by the way wasn,t your old Vice President of the USA Dick (Chain Gun) Cheney a leading light in the company when it was based in the USA.

And poor old Cameron maybe they are not big enough to do a runner from the draconian US tax laws, but fair play to them they are in the same position as BP ie. still in the US and taking the heat accordingly.

I also note that BP are a registered employer in the US with over 30,000 employees. Lets see if the walk away when all this is over.

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

There is no such company, nor has there been for 12 years, until Obama decided to try to resurrect the name, in order to further his own agenda.

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

Originally Posted by English Noodles

The Rig was Contracted from Transocean, an American Major, The Cementing That failed was by Haliburton, an American Major Company, The BOP that failed came from Cameron an American Major company.

BP should maybe exclude all American companies from its bidders list.

Halliburton etc being subcontractors is irrelevant.

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

No one is arguing that the buck stops with the Client in this case BP.
However be prepared for the backlash from BP concerning the other companies involved in the drilling fiasco. Which took the Deepwater Horizon to the bottom of the GOM.

Originally Posted by English Noodles

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

The buck stops with British Petroleum!

There is no such company, nor has there been for 12 years, until Obama decided to try to resurrect the name, in order to further his own agenda.

This may be true but it hasn't disguised who they really are - BRITISH Petroleum. They can't hide behind a name change.

I don't get the connection that criticizing a company is the same as attacking a nation, that seems a stretch.

Nowhere has Obama said anything negative against the people of Great Britain as far as I can tell.

I get it that many think he's implying that "foreigners are to blame" for this mess but I don't see enough proof of that, after all it's been reported on quite a bit about the Transocean, Halliburton, Cameron and MMA links to this disaster--exactly why a moratorium has been called on deep water drilling.

At any rate I can comfortably say that McDonald's food is crap and contributes to poor health and also mention that I love my country at the same time--one doesn't exclude the other.

Originally Posted by Khao Niao

This may be true but it hasn't disguised who they really are - BRITISH Petroleum. They can't hide behind a name change.

39% US owned, plenty of pensions taking a big hit because funds are tied-up in BP stock which has nose-dived 49%, the poor US pensioners that are getting stung because of Obamas behavior must be fuming.

Originally Posted by thehighlander959

Maybe the US Government in Washington should take this into account, as I recall when the spill initiated the company was being called BP. Shortly afterwards the US government spin doctors changed the name to British Petroleum to suit the government and public opinion and to ensure that the blame went to a foreign based company.

Sorry but that's just plain paranoid. You are really chasing gremlins.

Originally Posted by Humbert

Sorry but that's just plain paranoid. You are really chasing gremlins.

Hardly, this has been noted in the UK. The US public may be easy for Obama to fool, fortunately the UK public are not quite as gullible.

Originally Posted by English Noodles

The US public may be easy for Obama to fool, fortunately the UK public are not quite as gullible.

Bollocks! Remember Tony Blair?

^
I have no Gremlins to chase and this is the first time I think I have been ever called paranoid!!

Are you telling me that the agenda set by the POTUS is for the people of the GOM and not his own political agenda? If you are then I don,t believe you.

This is a damage limitation exercise on a very grand scale. BP have taken responsibility and will complete the clean-up, as a multi-national organization they will keep to their side of the bargain.

If the US politicians and media would just tone down the rhetoric towards BP (Not British Petroleum) this could only help matters.

As for CNN (Crap News Nightly) coverage of this, it has been absolutely disgraceful!! But then again what do you expect of their jingoistic bullshit crap from the US media. And they are not the only ones..

^
Link Please:

Where did BP say they caused this spill and where does it cite that they were grossly incompetent.

Who issued the Drlling Permits to a grossly incompetent company? Have a look in your own backyard.

Nationalists are morons. In this case, it's even stupider than usual BP is just like any other multinational and the fact that it originated in the GB completely irrelevant.

What's so British about BP, apart from the name? Oh, wait, didn't they rename themselves "Beyond Petroleum" recently? Right, not even the name is British, and why should it be BP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -- The official name is "BP" and the tagline is "Beyond Petroleum". No Britain here.

BP fucked up, that's all. They deserve all they get. Including this "BP spills coffee" clip

[youtube]2AAa0gd7ClM[/youtube]

Americans wonder why they are stereotyped as ignorant and stupid. The words coming from Obama only re-enforce this stereotype.

BP is a huge international organisation and for him to not even get the name right is either ignorant or a deliberate attack. Either way it is just another example of typical American idiocy.

Why defend such idiocy? He is the leader of what is supposed to be the most influential nation in the world and he acts like a little fucking kid. (It wasn't me, it was them)