BP’s initial response has been widely condemned as lacking sincerity and will to stem the flow of the oil into the Gulf region. For example, the company initially told the public that the rig was leaking 1000 barrels of crude oil per day into the Gulf. The figure turned out to be much higher, in the region of 5000 barrels per day. Another misstep from BP was to deflect blame for the mishap to the company who owned the rig and the company that was responsible for cementing the well which was as Transocean and Haliburton. …show more content…
Mr Hayward also said the amount of oil spill and dispersant used was “relatively tiny” compared to the “size of the big ocean”.
The immediate consequence for BP was public outrage, loss public trust and loss of license to operate, not counting the cost of compensation and clean up. Statistics from a public opinion poll conducted by Gallup Polls shows 73% of the public viewing BP’s response to the incident as very poor while in a poll conducted by Washington Post-ABC News, 64% expressed support for criminal prosecution. In America, members of the public boycotted BP gas stations and BP products causing a decline of between 10% to 40% in