In a new interview, BP CEO Robert Dudley says he is "perplexed" at the question "why do people hate oil companies?" According to Dudley:
People in oil and gas are sort of perplexed by this. In most places, countries are really proud of their energy industries. They’re thought of as a good thing, as part of the progress in bringing prosperity to the country. But it’s very different here. People don’t like having to pay for something that they have to go to every day, whether it’s filling up your car or—you don’t like to get the electric bill every month or the water bills.
Since Dudley's obviously confused, we'll help him out a bit. Why do people hate oil companies? How about a few examples to jog Dudley's memory a bit:
- Gulf oil spill: "The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout) was an oil spill that began in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, estimated to be between 8% and 31% larger in volume than the earlier Ixtoc I oil spill."
- 2013 Mayflower oil spill: "The 2013 Mayflower oil spill occurred on March 29, 2013, when an ExxonMobil pipeline carrying Canadian Wabasca heavy crude from the Athabasca oil sands ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock. Approximately 12,000 barrels (1,900 m3) of oil mixed with water had been recovered by March 31."
- Exxon Valdez oil spill: "The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound forLong Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef at 00:04 local time and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m3) of crude oil over the next few days. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters."
- Oil train tragedy in Canada: "At least 50 people are now presumed dead after a runaway oil train exploded in Canada."