BP's (NYSE:BP) Outgoing CEO Tony Hayward Denies Cutting Safety Corners

Giving testimony before a British parliamentary committee, the outgoing CEO at BP (NYSE:BP) said concerning safety at UK North Sea operations that the company hasn't cut corners.

Being pressed by committee chair Tim Yeo, who reminded Hayward that he said three years ago that he was going to focus "laser-like on safety,"
and that "On your watch as chief executive, in that three years, now we've had the biggest ever oil spill in U.S. waters," Hayward responded, saying that the record of BP was "better than the industry average."

Hayward added that the oil industry will be better concerning safety as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, especially in regard to the testing of blowout preventers.

He said they will "significantly enhance the testing protocols of blowout preventers."

Concerning the calls by some for deepwater drilling to be banned, Hayward implied that was an over-response to the situation.

He added that there were failures on the part of all parties involved, including Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Transocean (NYSE:RIG), who owned the rig.

The British committee is gathering information in order to make a decision on whether or not to add any more regulations for drilling off the coasts of the UK.