BP has inflicted record losses and immeasurable misery on families and industries across the Gulf states. So, I'm not really feeling bad for BP:
BP announced Tuesday that it lost $17 billion in the second quarter of the year because of the mounting cost of halting and repairing damage from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.It does take a certain skill to have an oil company suffer record losses.
The company also said the executive who has led its spill response effort for the last month, Robert Dudley, would take over Oct. 1 as BP's next chief executive, becoming the first American to run the London-based company.
Dudley, 54, had been widely expected to be chosen to replace outgoing chief executive Tony Hayward, whose dismissal was confirmed after a BP board meeting Monday evening.
Good riddance, Tony Hayward. Thanks for overseeing the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico. That's quite a legacy.
All that cost-cutting and skimping on safety didn't really pay off. You'd like to think this would be a lesson for other corporations, but don't count on it.
