As if the bad press surrounding BP could get any worse.
On Tuesday MyFoxTampaBay.com reported that a boat captain working to rescue sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico saw BP ships burning the loveable marine critters alive.
As the website noted in an article entitled “Is BP burning sea turtles alive?“:
Captain Mike Ellis said in an interview posted on You Tube that the
boats are conducting controlled burns to get rid of the oil. “They drag a boom between two shrimp boats and whatever gets caught between the two boats, they circle it up and catch it on fire. Once the turtles are in there, they can’t get out,” Ellis said.
Which apart from being tragic news in its own right, makes for an unfortunate turn of phrase for BP insiders.
It is well known that within BP corporate circles that those holding the highly sought- after executive assistant job — seen as a grooming ground for future executive board members — are commonly referred to as “turtles”.
Something to do with the way they protect and gate-keep the executives they are attached to, apparently.
Anyway, it just so happens that a younger Tony Hayward, now BP’s chief executive, was also once affectionately known as just that — a turtle.
As the New York Times commented in October 2007 (via Factiva):
Hayward’s performance was noticed by John Browne, the then-BP chief executive who resigned earlier this year after revelations about his personal life that had prompted him to lie to a high court.
Hayward was dubbed a ”turtle,” BP’s title for any promising talent whom it planned to groom for top leadership.
As a turtle, Hayward followed Browne around, witnessing an expansion strategy that has been blamed for some of BP’s current problems.
”There’s nothing wrong with the business as such but things had gone a bit lax under the old Browne reign and the management needs tightening up and focusing,” said Alan Beaney, a fund manager with Principal Investment Management, based in Britain. ”It’s Hayward’s job to see if he can change that around.”
The question is: will he be barbecued by the board the same way his fellow turtles are being barbecued in the Gulf of Mexico?
We wait and watch.
Related links:
Portrait of an oil company in distress – FT Alphaville
Adventures in falling knives – FT Alphaville