The reputation of oil giant BP -- and its share price -- took a beating on Thursday when it admitted it was facing a criminal inquiry into a massive oil spill in Alaska.
BP received a subpoena on April 26 from a US federal grand jury in Alaska but only revealed the investigation -- which could lead to prison sentences -- after an internal e-mail was leaked to journalists.
Shares in Britain's biggest company slumped 3 percent in early trading on Thursday on the back of the latest safety problem, which threatens to undermine its carefully crafted image as an environmentally responsible operator.
Revelations about the investigation into the spill of 1.2 million liters of crude into the Prudhoe Bay area follows a fire and 15 deaths at its Texas City refinery and a rig capsizing in the Gulf of Mexico.
There is already another US grand jury investigation into the refinery blast, which injured an estimated 500 staff, and the company has already been fined US$21 million for 300 violations uncovered by the UD Department of Labor.
Environmentalists called the Alaskan spill in March -- the largest ever in the North Slope region -- a "catastrophe."
BP blamed it on internal corrosion creating a 65mm hole.
A BP spokesman said in London on Thursday: "We are fully cooperating with the investigation and we are carrying out our own investigation into what caused the corrosion. We believe that our actions were at all times proper."
If the inquiry goes against BP, the world's second-largest listed oil company could face criminal charges, prison terms and significant fines.
Initial news of the subpoena came after Steve Marshall, BP's head of exploration in Alaska, sent an e-mail to staff saying he had been asked for "a variety of documents and data from BP Alaska concerning the transit line and certain other operational areas."
Marshall urged his staff to treat the matter as confidential and added: "I believe that the information we provide will show that the actions of BP Alaska were, at all times, proper."
The pipeline problems were relatively small compared with Alaska's worst oil spill on March 24, 1989 when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, near Anchorage.
About 2,092km of coastline were contaminated by the spill, killing hundreds of thousands of fish, seabirds, otters, seals and whales.
Exxon has always had a troubled relationship with environmental activists but BP has worked hard to cultivate a different one, emphasizing actions to help tackle climate change and promising to go "beyond petroleum."
Allegations of poor safety or maintenance systems are particularly sensitive issues for oil companies at a time when they are making record profits and facing criticism from politicians.
Problems in Alaska will not help oil companies such as BP in their attempts to fight off the threat of higher taxes in the state.
Nor will it help the oil company, led by the chief executive, Lord Browne, win a contract for a ?20 billion (US$37 billion) planned gas link in Alaska.
Fadel Gheit, an analyst with the New York brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co, said the wave of problems threatened to damage the good standing that BP had developed in the US.
"A company this size with operations all over the world is always vulnerable to things going wrong but a lot seems to have gone wrong in this case and its [good] public image is being eroded," Gheit said.
"BP has sowed seeds of goodwill by bringing in a respected politicians like James Baker at Texas City and has been bombarding the public with green messages through advertising," he said.
"Without this, things could have been much worse but it needs to stop shooting itself in the foot," he said.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’