BP receive criticism from Royal Dutch Shell

The head of Royal Dutch Shell launched a stinging attack on BP last week.

The company head, Peter Vosser, claimed that Shell would not have made the mistakes that BP had made, which led to the worst environmental disaster in US history.

He stated:

“Shell clearly would have drilled this well in a different way and would have had more options to prevent the accident from happening,”

He did however acknowledge that the oil industry as a whole was underprepared for such an accident when speaking at the Oil and Money Conference in London last week.

BP declined to make a comment on Vosser’s allegations, but the news will not have been welcomed with open arms by the beleaguered oil company.

Royal Dutch Shell said that the Macondo well included a number of cheaper design options which US politicians sited as BP’s tendency to put profits before safety. However, Royal Dutch Shell have themselves a tarnished record. Only in 2004 they had to pay £200m in fines after they said their oil reserves were 20% larger than they were, making the company a lucrative share prospect. And they have come under increasing pressure for the way they handle operations in the Niger Delta in Africa and Alberta, Canada.