The end of BP

BP is in trouble. Deep trouble. American lawmakers are threatening to take away its dividends and now President Obama is huffing and puffing in order to deflect attention from the role of his administration. BP is struggling to get a word in with the media, pundits, talking heads, politicians and environmental experts monopolising the airwaves.
    
Not a lot of people will be sympathetic to BP’s plight. The Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill is first and foremost a human and natural tragedy: 11 workers were killed, others were injured and now many Gulf Coast residents will end up losing their homes and livelihoods while their natural environment will be polluted for years to come. BP should, rightly, share much of the blame for this.

But could BP have done things a little differently to avoid what now looks like a gathering storm? I don’t mean how the company could have ensured that the Deepwater Horizon oil rig – and deep-water drilling more generally – was operated in a safer manner.