BP: Big problems for oil giant

BP’s reputation as one of Britain’s biggest corporate success stories took a fresh battering yesterday after the oil giant confirmed that it is being investigated in the US for possible manipulation of the crude oil and petrol markets.

The seemingly endless series of setbacks for BP has called into question its self-styled image as one of the world’s most environmentally conscious oil companies – an image the company has sought to burnish through its much-vaunted “Beyond Petroleum” campaign. With almost daily revelations emerging that suggest BP ignored warnings about the condition of its corroding pipelines in Alaska, the joke among observers is that its initials now stand, more appropriately, for “big problems”.
Most of these revelations originate from Chuck Hamel, a long-time critic of the oil industry’s operations in Alaska, who has built up a network of whistle-blowers and informants among oil company employees. From his home in Alexandria, outside Washington, Mr Hamel has continued to feed the media a steady stream of revelations about BP. The company is said to have made efforts to discredit him.

The Independent