Inside Story

A ‘culture of complacency’

We look at the conclusion of the BP oil spill commission and its impact on offshore drilling.

The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster was the result of a ‘culture of complacency’.

That is the conclusion by the commission assigned to find out the reasons behind the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010.

The conclusion came out after a two-day hearing testimony in Washington DC, which included members from the three main companies involved in the oil spill.

The commission has recommended that these companies need top-to-bottom reform.

But how will any reform prevent future oil spills? And what does it all mean for the offshore drilling industry?

Inside Story, with presenter Ghida Fakhry, discusses with Mamdouch Salameh, an international oil economist and former consultant to the World bank on oil and energy, David Santillo, a senior scientist and marine biologist at the Greenpeace research laboratory, and Kevin Craig, the managing director of PLMR, a political lobbying and media relations company. He is also a former advisor to global energy companies.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Wednesday, November 10, 2010.