BP’s safety woes limited to Texas refinery: CEO

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – BP Plc Chief Executive John Browne
said on Thursday that there was a “broken safety record” at its
refinery in Texas City, Texas, where 15 people were killed and
170 wounded in an explosion in March 2005.

But he added that the safety problems at the third-largest
refinery in the United States were limited to that plant alone
and did not extend to the company’s other four U.S. refineries.

London-based BP is facing scrutiny from federal prosecutors
for the blast, and has also been recently fined for safety
problems at its refinery in Toledo, Ohio.

“We had a broken safety record at Texas City,” Browne told
Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting where BP presented its
annual energy statistical review at the National Press Club.

“After a lot of improvement we’re learning from the
accident at Texas City and I believe we are applying that
learning to our refineries in the United States and worldwide
in a very rapid way,” he said.

When asked if safety problems were spread through its other
refineries in the United States, he said, “No. This was a
lesson that was specific.”

Browne said he has not been asked by U.S. investigators to
give a statement about last year’s explosion at the Texas City
refinery.

A member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said earlier
this month that the board may interview Browne about the blast.
The chief executive said on Thursday he had not been asked by
CSB to give a statement.

Interviews of top BP executives in the United States and
England are part of the board’s work to wrap up its final
report this year on the blast.

The Texas City plant resumed some gasoline production in
April after a safety inspection following the blast and
Hurricane Rita in September.

(Additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston)