US Congress grilling for embattled BP chief

BP boss Tony Hayward has received a marathon grilling from US politicians who angrily accused him of evading their questions over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

During a six-hour interrogation, the chief executive faced coruscating criticism from members of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.

The embattled business leader looked drained as a string of politicians accused him of “stone-walling”, giving memorised statements and “insulting our intelligence”.

When asked whether he expected to stay in his job at BP, he said: “At the moment I am focused on the response.”

Mr Hayward’s ordeal was not only at the hands of elected representatives.

As he prepared to give testimony, a protester daubed in what appeared to be black paint to resemble oil shouted: “You need to go to jail.”

She was promptly ejected from the chamber.

During the fiery session, Mr Hayward was accused of ignoring safety warnings, attempting to shirk responsibility and presiding over “astonishing” corporate complacency.

His appearance on Capitol Hill came less than 24 hours after BP announced it was to set up a $20bn (€16bn) compensation fund and scrap shareholder dividends until the end of the year.

But despite this and a fulsome apology, the BP man received a predicted mauling at the hands of committee members.

The under-fire chief executive endured more than an hour and a half of attack in silence before he was given the opportunity to testify.

During that time, a succession of committee members lambasted both him and his company.

Henry Waxman, Democrat chairman of the committee, accused Mr Hayward of not paying “even the slightest attention to the dangers” at Deepwater Horizon.

This was despite the oil firm’s drilling engineer warning that it was a “nightmare” rig just days before the April 20 accident which killed 11 and led to the region’s worst ever environmental disaster.

“BP’s corporate complacency is astonishing,” Mr Waxman added.

Pennsylvanian Congressman Mike Doyle accused BP of “bad judgement at best and criminal negligence at worst”.

He described the $20bn (€16bn) clean-up fund as “just the tip of the iceberg”.

When Mr Hayward eventually read his evidence, he said he was “personally devastated” by what had happened and that it was a “tragedy”.

BP would foot the entire clean-up bill, the chief executive said.

“I give my pledge, as the leader of BP, that we will not rest until we make this right. We are a strong company and no resources will be spared.”

But he insisted it was still “too early to say” what caused the massive spill.

After delivering his testimony, the floodgates of criticism were reopened during testy questioning.

Bart Stupak, chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said: “Quite frankly, BP blew it. You cut corners to save money and time.”

Defending his approach since taking over at BP in 2007, Mr Hayward said: “We have focused like a laser on safe and reliable operations – that is a fact.”

As the hearing became more confrontational, Mr Hayward was accused of “stone-walling” and “failing to cooperate” with the sub-committee.

Mr Waxman angrily told the BP chief executive: “I am just amazed at this testimony. You are not taking responsibility, you are kicking the can down the road and acting like you have nothing to do with this company.”

Again and again Mr Hayward was pressed over specifics relating to the construction and safety testing of Deepwater Horizon.

He left committee members frustrated as he repeatedly replied: “I was not involved in that decision” or “I’m afraid I can’t recall”.

During questioning, he said that there was nothing he had seen that suggested that anyone at BP had put “costs ahead of safety” in the construction of Deepwater Horizon.

“If there is any evidence that people have put costs ahead of safety I will take action,” he vowed.

Arkansas representative Mike Ross accused BP of not being “honest with the American people” and said Mr Hayward was deliberately frustrating the committee.

“It seems as though we get statements memorised by you and provided by your legal counsel,” Mr Ross said.

New York congressman Eliot Engel said Mr Hayward’s approach to the hearing was “an insult”.

“You are stalling, you are insulting our intelligence and I really resent it,” he said.

At one stage, My Hayward was asked repeatedly if he believed BP had acted recklessly.

“There is no evidence of reckless behaviour,” the chief executive said on each occasion.

Asked if anyone at the company had been fired as a result of the disaster, the BP boss replied: “No, not yet.”

But he added that action would be taken once conclusions were reached in BP’s investigations.

As the session began to draw to an end, members of the committee again said Mr Hayward’s approach was “regrettable”.

Mr Waxman said: “You have constantly ducked and evaded our questions. Your evasion will make our job more difficult.”

The marathon session lasted 7.5 hours. The BP boss looked drained as he fended off the last few questions.

Mr Stupak concluded the session by telling him that the evasiveness of his answers “only served to increase the frustration” of both Congress and the American people.