Tuesday, July 25, 2006

BP Kills Refinery Safety?

It's rare these days that you see a headline this honest.

Actually, I can't tell if this was a Freudian slip, a joke that someone didn't catch, or a solemn message from the editors of station KGBT 4 in the Rio Grande Valley. This headline appeared today in a story on the recent death of a contract employee at BP's Texas City refinery:

Given the serious workplace safety, environmental and corruption problems that the giant oil company has experienced over the past couple of years, the headline may be depressingly accurate.

In other BP developments, Chief Executive Lord John Browne announced that
  • The company enjoyed a $7.3 billion profit for the second quarter of this year, which comes to about $3.3 million an hour.

  • BP will add another $1 billion to the $6 billion already earmarked over the next four years to upgrade all aspects of safety at its U.S. refineries and to repair and replace infield pipelines in Alaska.

  • He will retire at the end of 2008. We wish him luck, being assured that he's well equipped to enjoy his retirement.