Hayward defends BP's 'strong track record' in its North Sea operations

EMBATTLED BP boss Tony Hayward defended the firm's safety record in the North Sea yesterday, insisting recent criticisms had not exposed "any fundamental weakness".

Mr Hayward spoke out as he was grilled by a committee of MPs investigating the implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for offshore drilling in the UK.

In his first UK appearance since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, he said the disaster had been personally "devastating" because he had made safety the firm's top priority.

But he was forced to explain why inspections on BP's North Sea installations found some did not comply with guidelines over regular training for operators on how to respond to an incident.

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) inspectors also found the firm had not conducted oil spill exercises properly at some of its offshore sites.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee is looking at whether the UK regime is fit for purpose and the risks of drilling off the coast of Scotland, amid fears a spill could occur in UK waters.

Mr Hayward told the MPs: "I do not believe that the issues that were reported this morning point to any fundamental weakness in our North Sea operations. We have a very strong track record in the North Sea. It is better than the industry average. We have seen major improvements in the course of the last two years."

Last week oil and gas industry leaders in the UK insisted there was "no case" for a moratorium on offshore drilling in deep water here in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Bernard Looney, the managing director of BP's North Sea operations, told the MPs that all criticisms from the authorities were taken "very seriously". A "handful of people" had not undergone some training - mainly refresher courses - because of an administrative error, he conceded.

Mr Hayward has been at the centre of the storm over offshore drilling since the explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in April, which killed 11 workers and left millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf.

The committee appearance follows a fiery session of the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in June, where he was accused of ignoring safety warnings, attempting to shirk responsibility and presiding over "astonishing" corporate complacency.

Last night Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: "BP's safety record in the North Sea isn't squeaky clean.The fact that some safety drills that should have been carried out were not, suggests his claim that safety comes first doesn't stand up to scrutiny, considering that kind of record."

In July, BP announced Mr Hayward was stepping down as chief executive on 1 October, to be replaced by American Bob Dudley, as it revealed the bill for the disaster stood at 20 billion.

An internal investigation by BP into the reasons for the explosion blamed a "complex and interlinked" series of events involving mechanical failures and human judgments.