BP exec weasels out of testifying before congress; others admit BP failed in Alaska

Washington, D.C.

BP admitted on Thursday that a litany of failures at its US operations were "unacceptable" as top executives faced angry grilling from lawmakers in Washington over oil spills and pipeline corrosion that caused a massive shutdown in Alaska.

But a key employee at the centre of the controversy over BP's pipeline management refused to testify under oath, invoking fifth amendment rights under the US constitution.

BP said Richard Woollam, former head of corrosion monitoring at the company's huge Prudhoe Bay facility, had been removed last year from its Alaska operations after the company found evidence of an "atmosphere of intimidation" in his pipeline inspection operations team.

Lawmakers at a congressional energy and commerce committee hearing seized on the revelation as a sign that company whistleblowers who may have tried to raise alarm about the condition of BP's pipelines were ignored.

Bob Malone, president of BP North America, said Mr Woollam had been "put on leave" but remained on BP's payroll.

He said BP had "fallen short of the high standards we hold for ourselves, and the expectations that others have for us".

BP last month shut down half of Prudhoe Bay after government-ordered pipeline inspections revealed severe corrosion inside the eastern oil transit line at the field.

The field accounted for 8 per cent of US domestic supply. Its size has fuelled lawmaker anger about BP's safety and pipeline management policies at a time of public unease over high gasoline prices.

Mr Malone said: "A few people have alleged that BP engineered the shutdown of Prudhoe bay as a way to manipulate prices. I am here to assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. BP took the extraordinary step to shut down production because we saw unexpectedly severe corrosion that couldn't be explained."

Lawmakers expressed astonishment that BP could not have foreseen its pipeline problems through regular inspections known as "pigging", where as device is sent down a pipeline to check for problems.

Under persistent questioning, Steve Marshall, president of BP Exploration in Alaska, said: "Clearly pigging in retrospect could have been a positive step we could have taken."

Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who chairs the House of Representatives' energy and commerce committee, said BP's admission in hindsight "just didn't cut it" when it came to excusing "consistent failure".

"If . one of the world's most successful oil companies can't do simple, basic maintenance needed to keep the Prudhoe Bay field operating safely, without interruption, maybe it shouldn't operate the pipeline. Maybe we should find a way to get a different operator through the private market sale of this pipeline and let somebody else do it," Mr Barton said.

He added: "Shame, shame, shame."

Mr Malone said BP had has retained three corrosion experts to come up with recommendations for improving the corrosion inspection, monitoring and prevention program in place at Prudhoe Bay and in other company-operated Alaska oil fields.

"Some policymakers are regulators have begun to question whether these operational problems at BP are symptoms of a systematic problem. Clearly, BP has had its share of issues form which we've taken important learnings," he said.