Oil giant BP launched a public relations blitz Monday over the Gulf of Mexico rig spill, pledging up to US$500 million to study the impact and taking out major newspaper ads.
Chief executive Tony Hayward visited the scene of the environmental disaster in Port Fourchon in southern Louis-iana, admitting that the Brit-ish energy company's reputation was on the line.
"I think this is clearly a major reputational issue for BP," Hayward told journalists, days after a top U.S. official suggested the company faced an "existential crisis" after the disaster.
BP is preparing to perform a make-or-break "top kill" operation on Wednesday to inject heavy drilling fluids into the well 1,500 metres down on the seabed and hopefully seal it with cement.
Hayward issued an emotional rebuttal to charges his company had tried to hide the truth about the amount of oil leaking into the sea and said he was "absolutely gutted" that crude had started washing ashore. "As I said, it's clear that the defence of the shoreline, at this point, has not been successful," Hayward said. "I feel devastated by that, absolutely gutted. What I can tell you is that we are here for the long haul. We are going to clean every drop of oil off the shore."
